Reconstruction
by Phaenur
Summary: Tails had thought that helping Sonic save the universe - again - would have earned them all a chance to rest. Unfortunately, the Metarex attack was all the excuse his world's countries needed to start tearing each other apart, and it's somehow become his responsibility to pick up the pieces. At least it'll keep him busy...
1. Suppressed

Disclaimer: My general disclaimer can be found on my profile page. Any special credits I need to give, whether for direct quotes or inspiration, will be listed in an author's note at the end of the chapter.

Author's Note: This is set in the aftermath of the _Sonic X_ third season, but because there's always some continuity confusion in this franchise I want to state up front that the geography is based on that of _Sonic Unleashed_, with some realms and characters from other games and the SatAM/Archie continuity. I think I'll leave it at that for now; hopefully I'll be clear enough in the text.

* * *

Klaxons split the woodland sky and irritated birds added their complaints to the sound. The long, low blasts sounded again and again, warning any being that could hear them to take cover from the coming storm. Once, that storm would have been natural, but now the growing thunderheads and even their off-green tint were secondary concerns at best. After all, there was still no such thing as a laser-guided tornado, and no lightning strike on record could burrow twenty meters into a mountainside. The three rocket interceptors slashing through the clouds were an entirely different matter.

"Everyone in?" a yellow-furred fox called into his microphone from a safely hidden security booth. Of course they were – he could see all but one of his thirty-odd friends and neighbors on the monitors that lined the room even before they started to check in, and it wasn't like anyone was silly enough to go outside anymore. Well, almost anyone, but at least the ones who _were_ that impulsive could look after themselves just fine. Besides, he thought with a smirk, if his friend Sonic didn't get out every once in a while he'd be way more of a threat to safety and sanity than the marauding aircraft ever could,

The thought brought his attention back to the perimeter sensors. Yes, those three planes were definitely headed for his workshop, and for all that they were inefficient antique models that were basically a rocket wrapped around a cockpit they were certainly quick-moving when they wanted to be. He knew that Sonic could keep pace with them – he didn't have that name for nothing – but those planes were some of the only things the fox knew that could actually make his friend work for it. And then, of course, there were their weapons. A rad-sensor flashed red to report a missile lock and the fox sighed to himself. Well, it wasn't like the planes were charging at his front door just for a friendly chat, was it, although that would make a nice change. He flipped up a plastic panel with a white-gloved thumb and pressed the toggle under it, watching with a mixture of pride and distaste as a pair of _exceptionally_ large turrets flopped out of the entrance tunnel's roof. He'd hated having to install the things, so soon after –_ no, not thinking about that now_ – this place was supposed to be his house, but he hadn't really had a choice in the end. The big hollow cylinders shook as they were filled with scrap and pressurized air, and they searched the skies for something to shoot.

They weren't kept waiting for long. The pilots' aim was improving, the fox conceded. The first half-dozen or so air raids had wandered off and gotten lost amid the many rocky outcroppings that dotted his little peninsula, and it had taken them fifteen more to actually find his doorways in the half-mile-wide circle of coarse rock and scrubland that his workshop and its tunnels occupied. And even now that they knew where to look, it came down to luck whether or not they'd be anywhere near him.

Two missiles spent themselves harmlessly against the rocks well above him – well, maybe not that harmlessly, judging from the gritty powder that was drifting down into his mouth and fur – but four more were dead on target for the much thinner doorway. Of course, that just made them easier for his turrets to _hit_, and three missiles flared and vanished in the torrent of shrapnel they belched out.

But one got through. One got through, shredding the steel barrier like so much tissue paper, and three cameras promptly blanked out. The ones that didn't were much worse, because the fox knew that the white mist drifting down the hallway on _those_ images wasn't static. And it clearly wasn't normal smoke either, not with that bright a shade. Another button press brought the secondary doors slamming shut – and thank the Emeralds he had installed those after the first air raid – but the second or so it took could have been an eternity with that whatever-it-was swirling deeper into the workshop.

Mercifully, the backup doors stopped it before it reached his friends in the main chamber. The mist settled sulkily into the mouth of the tunnel, clearly in no hurry to leave, and even though the raiders had swept past the mountain and were already fading from his screen the fox felt inclined to leave his turrets active tonight. Their motion sensors would target anything that came close, but maybe that would warn Sonic off if the hedgehog came back before the…stuff dispersed. His friend wasn't exactly renowned for critical thinking but he had a survivor's instincts – and anyway, with no way to communicate it was the best the fox could do.

The immediate threat past, he let himself slump over the back of his chair and close his eyes for a minute. His tongue lolled out slightly as the adrenaline started to let up, but there was still tension even beyond what someone who ran a bomb shelter might usually feel. Boy, was he going to have fun explaining _this_.

* * *

"…And so that's about the size of it," the fox said, hands out and palms up, his voice no longer anywhere near as confident as it had been when the planes had first shown up. Definitely not as confident as it had been two months ago, but that was for more reasons than he cared to dwell on. "Sorry, I thought I could stop those missiles, but one of them took a jog on me and ducked the sentries, so we've got something bad in the main hall."

A large crimson echidna, part of the impromptu "War Council," stepped forward and looked down at the kit. "Which brings you up to, what, one miss out of two hundred? Stop fishing for compliments, Tails!"

"Yeah, okay Knuckles, but it only _takes_ one time to let," the fox paused, waving aimlessly as he fought for the right words. "Well, something like that in," he finished somewhat lamely. "I thought I could take care of this on my own, I was wrong again, and now –"

"Tails, you did just fine," Knuckles said, moving to pat down the kit's springy bangs. Tails pulled away – Knuckles wasn't exactly the best at the whole "being comforting" thing, and his idea of a reassuring pat would probably constitute assault to anyone else.

Well, it would if there was still any government to enforce it, at least. Or enough people in this part of the world to care. But as far as Tails was aware, all that was left of the Acorn Kingdom was clustered here in his underground home. The month or so since the war had really sunken in for everyone had given them more than enough time to get to know each other. For some of them – like Sonic – that was too much time in its own right, but then again the blue hedgehog's eternal hyperactivity made even Tails sneakily grateful for every break they got from his big brother.

"You know where this lot came from?" An epauletted skunk caught Tails's eye and the fox shivered a little despite himself. Geoffrey St. John was the veteran's veteran, no doubt, a former commando and spymaster and one of the lucky few who had been elsewhere when Castle Acorn and the city around it were destroyed. Unfortunately he still loomed over anyone who wasn't Knuckles and hadn't burned off that intimidation by spending four years being friendly. That said, the little fox returned the gaze as best as he could. He swallowed nervously – for several reasons – and then answered a little more steadily.

"What you're afraid of, most likely. Downunda's rocket interceptors." The skunk swore under his breath and Tails couldn't help but agree with him. Geoffrey's homeland in the southern hemisphere might lag behind the northern kingdoms technologically – mostly because they had ducked the constant string of wars and occupations that had bred inventiveness – but its wildlife was _legendary_. There were at least three dozen thoroughly unpleasant toxins that mist could be, and those were just the ones in the tourist brochure. On the front cover.

Not to mention the Downunda government was apparently the leading aggressor in the current unpleasantness, which had put the skunk in a difficult situation. It wasn't all that dissimilar to when Tails had been forced to choose between Sonic and Earth a couple of years ago, and the fox appreciated Geoffrey's decision to stay with the Acorn Kingdom. He had tried to explain the war to Tails a few times, something about "resource starvation," "raiding economies," "historical animosity," and "bloody idiots with their land grabs," but that all fell outside the fox's area of expertise. The skunk had been a very tolerant teacher, but trying to comprehend Acorn, Spagonia, and Downunda blowing one another apart and claiming it was in everyone's best interests made the little fox's head hurt every time. No, it was easier to just take in whoever wanted safety and do his best to provide it.

So far, that wasn't going so well.

"I keep telling you, you need to let go of that aversion you've got to putting guns on anything," Geoffrey went on. "Better we just knock out the jets than try to shoot down two, four, however-many times the missiles." Tails's left ear flicked reflexively a few times while his mouth twisted up at the corner. "You know it's safer for everyone – well, not them, I'd imagine, but this _is_ a war after all."

The ear-flicking picked up speed; in fact, it was actually starting to hurt. This wasn't the first time that the skunk had used that argument and Tails knew it made sense, but he'd made this sort of choice two months ago. He wasn't planning to ever be ready to point a lethal weapon at someone again, no matter how awkward that might made things now. No, he wouldn't shoot those pilots down no matter the practicality, because he knew that every time he even watched his turrets in action he saw –

No! Not going to think about that! Not going back there…too late. The little fox drew the two fluffy tails that gave him his nickname tightly around himself and let his gaze fall straight down. The mountain dust that had gotten in his mouth back in the security booth suddenly felt much thicker, much harsher, clogging his throat and his lungs. He sat down hard, knowing that all the spectators – even Knuckles – would be trying not to laugh at the thud he made. _Okay, Tails, that's enough_, he told himself firmly, but experience had taught him that it would take more than just self-talk to break out of his little moods. For a long minute he just sat there, breathing deeply, and then shook himself like he was throwing off cold water. All right, back to – oh, grand.

Knuckles had Geoffrey pinned to the wall, one fist pressing against the skunk's neck while the other hovered ready to punch. There was definite fear in Geoffrey's eyes, but no sign of surrender, which was lucky since that would be all the justification the echidna needed to throw that punch. "Okay, that's enough!" Tails said as forcefully as he could – which, to be honest, wasn't very.

Knuckles let the ready fist fall but kept the skunk suspended as he turned to look at Tails. "He can say whatever he wants about you and I won't care," he was practically spitting, each syllable precise and harsh, "but I will not let anyone make light of what happened to Cosmo."

Tails tried not to sigh. _This_ again. "Knuckles, thanks, but you really don't need to…" he trailed off into a nervous laugh at the echidna's glare. Obviously this wasn't something his friend was going to reconsider, not that stubbornness was anything new. "Well, you _really_ don't need to break our top commando," he said instead with what he hoped was a little more authority. Knuckles still looked mutinous, but he let up the pressure and even helped Geoffrey back to his feet. Good, that was good. Tails would have to figure out how he had gotten Knuckles to give up so easily. It had never happened before.

"_Who's_ your top commando?" a completely different voice demanded, and Tails's eyes shot open as a somewhat weatherworn blue-furred hedgehog ducked in through the rear entrance.

"Sonic!" He pounced happily on the newcomer, taking him around his cream midsection and wrapping both arms around him safely below the worst of his friend's spines. The hedgehog staggered a little but kept his balance, returning the hug a bit stiffly.

"Come on, little bro, you're losing your touch," Sonic told Tails with his eternal chuckle. "You used to be able to floor me whenever you did that. You sure you've been eating well enough down here?"

"None of us are," St. John said, completely recovered from Knuckles's attack except for what would probably be a lovely bruise around his neck. "Mountain, remember?"

"Yeah, well, I brought back a little something for everyone," Sonic said with a flourish. From somewhere in his fused spikes he produced a bag that smelled unmistakably of chili. "Had another bag, but it got splattered across the forest." His eyes flicked to Tails and that told the fox all he needed to know. In fact, now that he was looking he could see light scrapes all across Sonic's chest and arms. _Those turrets must be a lot more sensitive than I thought_. _Guess I've got some work to do later_.

Tails scuffed one shoe, shifting most of his weight onto his friend. "I'm really sorry about that, Sonic." He didn't want to meet the hedgehog's eyes, not that he thought Sonic would ever get angry at anyone but he didn't want to find out he was wrong. "We got attacked again maybe fifteen minutes back. I let a gas missile get in the front door." Knuckles looked like he might object again but stayed out of it – Sonic tended to bring out the echidna's frostier side, especially lately.

"Gas, huh?" The hedgehog made a show of thinking about it, then shrugged irreverently and waved at the bag. "Well, as long as it hasn't spoiled your appetites it's all fine by me." Everyone's eyes shot open. That was flippant even – no, _especially_, Tails reminded himself – by Sonic's standards.

"Ah, Sonic, we're talking about a Downunda poison that's flooded the main hall," Geoffrey clarified. The hedgehog glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it hasn't gotten in here, so I don't think we should let these go to waste. I couldn't believe that store was still open, but the owner wasn't interested in coming back with me. Too bad, really, we could have used his talents. And I'm sure you'll think better on a full stomach anyway, little bro," he finished to Tails. Honestly, the fox could probably have torn through the entire bag on his own, but there were standards to maintain.

"I'm not hungry, Sonic," he said with just a hint of the sulk he remembered usually made his big brother think twice.

The glint in the hedgehog's green eyes got brighter – and maybe just a little more mischievous, although the fox didn't see how one could improve on perfection. He prodded Tails's ribs and stomach gently, prompting a gurgle that completely overturned the fox's claim. "I don't think so, Tails," Knuckles chipped in helpfully. "You've been working eighteen-hour days since the first planes came over and that was five weeks ago. And you weren't eating before that because, well," he swallowed what he was about to say, "none of us were, really, but you were the worst. So if Sonic offers you your favorite, you take it!"

Sonic looked at Knuckles in mock surprise. "Knuckles the Echidna, agreeing with me about someone else's well-being? Tell me someone recorded that!" He laughed, waiting for Knuckles to do the same, and almost dropped both Tails and the bag at the completely blank expression that had replaced the echidna's habitual frown.

"Yeah, funny thing, that," Knuckles said with a bitterness that left Tails and Sonic alike completely floored. The hedgehog tried to reach out but Knuckles swatted his arm aside and stalked out into the common room.

St. John gave a little cough, dragging his two companions back to their senses. They jerked around to face him. "So, about this missile?" Sonic just shrugged while Tails shook his head mutely and darted out of the room after Knuckles. The skunk gave an exasperated sigh that echoed all through the tunnels.

* * *

Tails wandered through the common room. Formerly his den, the cavernous room was now packed wall-to-wall with simple beds and sofas, and the people to fill them. He'd never planned on having all of this room, it had started with just a little house on the reverse slope of the mountain overlooking an inlet, but when your best friends were a burrower and a living drill bit you tended to end up with more tunnel space than you knew what to do with. A small flop-eared rabbit girl hopped across to him through the sullen crowd as if she was out in a field somewhere rather than halfway through a cliffside. _Of course, considering Cream's imagination, she might think she is_, Tails thought with a fond half-smile.

"Tails," she squeaked. "What's wrong with Mister Knuckles?"

The smile evaporated. How did you explain this to a seven-year-old, especially when you didn't want to think about it either? "Just him and Geoffrey getting each other's backs up again, nothing special."

"Was Mister Geoffrey talking about Cosmo again?" Tails swore he felt his jaw hit the floor. Leave it to Cream to see right through a problem.

"N-no, not really. He wanted me to be more aggressive in protecting this place, Knuckles got really defensive, and things went downhill from there."

"That's exactly what I mean, Tails," she said flatly. _Oh, no, another round of Cream-knows-best_. "Don't they realize what that means to you?"

"Honestly, I wish Knuckles didn't," Tails said before he could stop himself. The rabbit's long eyelashes suddenly looked even more like sabers than usual, and the fox scrambled frantically for a new subject. "So, um, Sonic got back. I don't know where he found them, but he brought us a bag of chili dogs too."

"Great!" Cream's peal of joy wiped away any traces of her bad mood and Tails wished he could tamp down his own issues that easily. "Make sure you eat plenty, Tails."

Had Sonic ever been able to divert him like that? Probably – he remembered triple-frosted chocolate cake had always been a good bribe. He chuckled ruefully, and a little bit hungrily. "Yeah, everyone's been saying that lately. But I don't know how many he brought with him, especially since I blew half of them up." Cream gave him a quizzical look but mercifully didn't ask. "So anyway, I want to make sure you all get a chance at them first. I can keep going off of salad for a bit longer." The concern was back on Cream's face so Tails plowed on before she could add her voice to the protests. "Speaking of food, I wonder where he is."

As if on cue, a loud _thock_ resounded through the caves and a spiny blue ball caromed off of several walls before drilling several feet through the rock. "Oh," Tails and Cream said in unison as a hedgehog girl in a frilly red skirt loomed large in the doorway, a massive yellow-red hammer dangling from her hands. "Amy."

"What did I say this time?" Sonic moaned from his cubby in the wall and the room dissolved into laughter. Some things never changed.

* * *

Mercifully the chili dogs had survived not only Sonic's journey home but also his encounter with the wall, and soon everyone was merrily munching away. There were several artificial greenhouses in their hideout that served to keep everyone decently fed, but the Acorn citizens were famous worldwide for their love of sausage. Even Tails finally gave in, although he felt that a real leader would have protested for longer than he had. Even so, he only let himself take three, and two of those were for Knuckles. He hadn't seen him since the meeting and knew the echidna would be hungry.

Carrying one chili dog delicately in each hand, Tails walked leisurely through the inner caves of his workshop. He had been a little worried that Knuckles would be hard to find, but almost as soon as he opened the first door he could hear thudding and crunching. The fox cut through the overlapping echoes of the underground with the ease of talent and long practice. His friend had never been the stealthy one, had he?

"Knuckles?" Tails called out a little nervously as he finally saw the echidna, merrily pounding his way through the solid granite. Startled, Knuckles pivoted and drove a fist straight at Tails, pulling back frantically when his brain caught up with itself. Tails still went over backwards, frantically wrapping one tail around each chili dog and thinking rather disjointedly how proud his save would have made Sonic if the hedgehog had seen it.

"Sorry," Knuckles grunted, offering a hand and pulling Tails back to his feet. The echidna gave a half-shrug as the fox dusted himself down. "Got carried away."

"Yeah, I could kind of tell," Tails replied ruefully. "Sorry," he added immediately, thinking how rude that could sound to a distressed echidna. Luckily Knuckles just waved it off, making a visible effort to be more generous than usual. "So, ah, chili dog?"

Knuckles brushed Tails's tails away, once again nearly sending the food into the dust. The fox's face fell – he hadn't gotten fur in them again, had he? "Not if that spiky idiot's the one who brought them." Oh. Not stealthy, and also not particularly tactful. That always made conversations with Knuckles harder than they had to be. At least Tails rarely had to think about what the echidna meant.

Unfortunately this was one of those few times. The young fox had absolutely no idea what had gotten between Knuckles and Sonic since they all came back from space, but it was starting to physically _hurt_ watching his two big brothers fight. He hesitated for a moment longer, grinding a toe into the rock, and finally decided to match the echidna's straightforwardness. "What's happened, Knuckles? Between you and Sonic, I mean?"

Tails had forgotten how fast Knuckles could move. The rock-steady hand wrapped around his chin before he had even seen his friend tense, and some corner of his mind swore it heard Sonic screaming in agony as one of the two chili dogs slipped out of his tail. "You're too smart for that, Tails. You heard what your hero said." Knuckles's voice was as unflinching as his hand, and he put more venom on 'hero' than Downunda could supply in a year.

Despite all of that, Tails had absolutely no idea what the echidna was talking about. "What he said? What did he say, Knuckles?" Could it have been Sonic's reaction to the gas attack? No, too recent, this had been under the surface for longer. "You've always tried to act like you didn't like him, but you never meant it until now." The glove tightened and Tails felt his jawbone buckling. Okay, maybe meeting Knuckles head-on hadn't been such a good idea.

Knuckles looked straight at him, but there was no eye contact. "I thought you cared for her more than that." He didn't need to explain who 'she' was. But – Tails had cared for Cosmo! No, he still did! So what was Knuckles thinking? At least a bit of it was clicking. The fox was now fairly sure that whatever Knuckles's problem was extended to him now too. So that left only one option – protest. Loudly.

"You know how hard it was, Knuckles. You know what happened." It came out as less of a denial and more of a whine. He tried to wince away, to hide his embarrassment, but that granite grip kept him still. He was beginning to feel a strain in his neck. "Sonic didn't want to do it either, but we were out of options."

"You're sure?" The echidna let him drop suddenly, and the other chili dog splattered to the ground as Tails used all six ends to catch himself. That chill in Knuckles's voice had never been there before, and the fox felt his heart shrink at the scorn that twisted his friend's face. "Look, Tails," he pointed at the hole he had burrowed. "Right now, I see the hedgehog on the left side of this wall and that idiot skunk on the right. I don't want to see you there too, so get out of here. Will you go!" he finished, voice suddenly rising.

Tails knew when he wasn't wanted and scurried back to the common area much faster than he had come, thoughts racing even faster as he tried and failed to make sense of what Knuckles had said. His ears ducked forward against his skull, and out of nowhere he wished that Cream had been with him. Or Amy, or even crazy old Vector! Someone who actually knew how to talk to a person.

Not just him.

* * *

Author's Note: Yes, triple-frosted chocolate cake is a JudasFm/Taranea reference, and yes, you should go read their work. Preferably right now.


	2. Time to Go

Tails wasn't entirely sure how long he wandered the tunnels after his encounter with Knuckles. It didn't feel like that long, and someone should have stopped him if he had gotten very far, but his paws were sore and his legs throbbing by the time he sagged back into the chair in his security booth. The mist, whatever it was, still stared sulkily back at him from the outer hallway with no signs of leaving. Ripples swept across the surface from time to time, but by and large it had flattened itself against the floor and settled into a layer thick enough to walk on. Not that Tails had any interest in trying.

Motion caught his eye from a different panel. It had been supposed to; Geoffrey was waving his arms impatiently at the camera. With a flush of embarrassment the fox wondered how long he had kept the skunk waiting while he moped around the burrow. He leaned over his keyboard and brought the two-way speaker for that camera online. "Sorry about that. What do you need?" Geoffrey twisted to look along the corridor as if hunting for an echo, and Tails buried his face in his glove with a sigh. He'd get used to this keyboard sooner or later. Of course, since he had designed it he didn't really have an excuse. He'd only thrown his setup together in the last month or so, after the first air raid, and his heart hadn't been in it – but he couldn't let that slide. Lives were on the line, and Sonic wouldn't underperform just because he was having a hard time, would he?

After a few more keystrokes an irritated voice finally answered him. "About time. Figured out what to do with our newest problem yet?" Tails shook his head guardedly before he remembered – again – that the skunk could only hear him.

"No." Geoffrey bristled and the fox instinctively drew his tails up around himself. "I mean, it's heavier than air and isn't moving anywhere right now," he added hastily. He hadn't given the issue any thought since his little chat with Knuckles, but admitting that was a surefire way to get their one trained veteran angry with him. After all, the skunk had gone through the trouble of learning all of Tails's systems so they could both get a few hours of sleep a day. And besides, he was probably the only other person in the complex who could actually understand half of what a Tails in problem-solving mode was trying to say. "There aren't any vents I want to risk opening, right, and the same goes for opening a door to bring up a fan or something." Well, all right, even Sonic could have followed that, but whenever things got complex Tails knew how quickly everyone's eyes glazed over.

"Heavier than air, eh?" The skunk ran a glove through his fur as he thought. "Sounds like you really just need something to stir it up. Try firing your little cannons into the mix, see if that gets the gas moving."

Tails chewed his lower lip for a moment. True, he hadn't thought of that. But why did Geoffrey always turn to big guns as his first solution? "Too risky. That chaff is hard to control – just look at what I did to Sonic – so even if it gets the air moving it'll probably poke holes in the door somewhere. Plus we don't know if the gas is flammable or anything like that." All true, but his renewed ear-flicking betrayed his real reason. He didn't want to give the skunk the satisfaction of forcing him into shooting something. Giving an inch now might cost him a few light-years down the line.

Geoffrey pursed his lips. After a moment he spoke again. "Could you convince Sonic to be our fan?" Tails saw his bug-eyed expression mirrored on the screen and was suddenly grateful the connection was audio-only on the other side. "Set up a low-pressure zone outside the cave mouth?" Oh, that kind of fan. He only really associated Sonic with the other kind.

"Absolutely not," Tails started to say, but his brain intercepted his mouth. True, there was more than a little risk, but it was still the sort of thing the hedgehog did for fun back before they all got stuck in a cliff. For that matter, he still snuck out to do it anyway, although Tails was no longer constantly disappointed at being left behind. That said...

"No," the fox said eventually, gloves rising to cover his face as he realized how obvious the solution was. How had he missed it for this long? He really was out of it right now, and that had to change. "No, Sonic's not it. But you're close. Thanks, Geoffrey." He switched off the audio – at least, he hoped he had – and turned to a second panel. A lean blue biplane rested in the foreground of his workshop, tiny but comfortable against the angular silver of a bulky modern jet and the battered hulk of the refurbished dreadnought that had carried them across the galaxy. It was time to spin up the Tornado.

* * *

Tails trotted across the tarmac floor of his hangar bay as quickly as his constant sneezing would allow. He really needed to come down here more often; ten seconds in and there was already more dust than granite mixed into his coat. His gloves were going to be irreparably stained by the time he got to the plane, and he resolved that not even six years' tradition would keep him out of the bath tonight. The canopy swung open but protested louder than Sonic at the seaside, and Tails suddenly felt a twinge of fear. If the seal had decayed then this was probably going to end very, very painfully.

_Now isn't the time, Tails_, he told himself sternly. Besides, the Tornado was practically his life. The plane used to be Sonic's, and Uncle Chuck Thorndyke back on Earth had poured some of himself into it, but the machine had really belonged to Tails ever since his four-year-old self had clambered into the propeller housing and thrown it back together like a jigsaw. It had evolved through the years, even carried them through at least one galaxy. The fox knew it wouldn't let him down even if he had neglected it.

But that didn't stop him from hopping down from the cockpit and picking out an oxygen mask from one of the many benches that cluttered the cavern. It took a moment of inspection to find a rebreather that still worked; he and his friends could process even near-vacuum well enough not to need them most of the time. Properly outfitted, if a little weighted down, he scurried back to the old Tornado and relaxed fractionally at the soft hiss of a good seal. _There, see_? _All that stress for nothing_. _You knew it'd work_.

Honestly, nerving himself up had been the hardest part. Now all he had to do was trundle out onto the grass through the landside opening, hope his landing gear kept the plane upright while he swung around the worst of the rocks, and park himself right in front of the tunnel. At least he had remembered to switch the cannons off before trying this, or else he would have had just a bit of a problem. And mercifully it hadn't been the lower beach entrance, or else not even the Tornado would be able to hold itself steady. _And Knuckles would have a heart attack if he saw another sandstorm, I think_, he thought with a surprising giggle as he remembered one of their first meetings with the echidna.

All right, time to get to it. There was a high whine in the turbine that wasn't supposed to be there, but Tails supposed that was his own fault for leaving the poor thing unattended for so long. And this was something that had survived both his and Sonic's learning experiences; imagine how badly the more delicate X2 would perform! He definitely had to come down here more often, if he could find an hour or two to get away from the security center to do it. _Stop making excuses, Tails, you need this and you know it_. But he had responsibilities, and at long last an image to maintain, so tinkering and joyrides took a distant backseat to the cat-herding that came with his position.

He was distracting himself again, and with a mutter that he was immensely glad neither Sonic nor Knuckles could hear he finally started inching forward along the runway. The old-fashioned nose propeller usually printed exhilarating patterns across his fur, but since he was functionally turning the plane into a giant vacuum cleaner right now he had to hide behind the canopy and deny himself that pleasure. Ah well, something for another time once this silly war had worn itself down. The red rock and eternally brown grass were wet from an earlier storm, and although things were clear for the moment it looked like another was on its way, but the Tornado had covered more awkward terrain than this in its storied history. To this day, he still wasn't entirely sure how he had made it take off from a truncated sand dune. And he wasn't all that interested in trying it again either, especially not if Sonic was with him.

The wet grass was indeed no obstacle, and within minutes the old plane had taxied – not that any controller worth their badge would have called it that – to the cave mouth. Unfortunately, the plan to just suck all of the gas out of the tunnel was complicated by the utter lack of traction, and the Tornado nearly cannoned into the rock face despite the wheel locks. Tails reached for the canopy release, snugging up his oxygen mask, but his hand froze just short of the lever. He didn't know what that stuff was, after all, and a gruesome death alone on his own front lawn wasn't how he wanted to go. He knew he was catastrophizing, but then again if he had let his imagination run away with him he might have realized in time that Cosmo was spying against her will, or that the demon-plant Metarex could compress themselves into a singularity somehow, and then he could have thought of a solution that didn't involve shooting her – _Stop that_! _Bad fox_! What was the phrase Uncle Chuck had taught him? "Twenty-twenty hindsight?" His homeland might not use numbers for their vision tests, but the term still fit. He shook himself vigorously, letting the bad thoughts subside, and at his thoughts of the old human a sideways smile crept up to replace them. Refreshed, he popped the canopy and darted for the woods, looking for something that could chock the wheels.

* * *

As he returned with a stack of coarse grey rocks pinning his arms to the ground, he saw something through the disturbed fog that hadn't been there before. There was a black object in the cave mouth, something that was raised rather than depressed so it couldn't be the scorch mark. But nothing had come close except Sonic since the missile hit, so what could it be except _oh_.

Of course. The guns had been off for the last twenty minutes or so, and if someone knew about the gas attack it wouldn't be hard to send in a team in sealed suits. It could even be a bunch of robots if Eggman had finally stopped moping around, but there hadn't been a peep out of their traditional archenemy since Chris had disappeared and the Acorn refugees started showing up. Whoever it was didn't matter, though, except for setting how far he could go in dealing with them. A grim expression settled over the young fox's face as he clambered back into the cockpit and warmed the engine up once more, the healthy thrum and unhealthy whine coupling to drown out the hiss of the seal – or rather the silence that should have been a hiss.

Tails didn't realize there was a gap in his defenses until a tendril of greyish mist swatted him almost playfully across the snout. His eyes crossed and then bugged out when he finally realized his situation, and the rebreather roared its objection as he started to hyperventilate. A moment's panicked thought let him settle down fractionally – his eyes were tearing up already, but only the way they had when he'd gotten too close to that riot outside the Thorndyke mansion – but he still twisted away in his chair. Whatever this was wasn't reacting with his skin, and his mask kept him safe. In fact, it was probably only a tear gas or something similar if there were soldiers creeping around inside it, but knowing it was only a little bit comforting when his treacherous brain insisted on flashing through every Downunda poison in the catalogue and exactly what each one would do to him if it got into his lungs.

Of course, it would have to compete for the privilege. Stripped of their cover, at least a dozen figures in navy blue armored hazmat suits rose from the scorched trench the missile had dug, leveling an interesting assortment of weapons at the plane that had exposed them. Even if most of them were 'aiming' from the hip, the sheer size of some of their guns told him it was definitely time to be somewhere else. For that matter, it was time for all of them to be somewhere else, and Tails started to severely regret scrapping their communicators to build his security board. If those soldiers realized they had a ready entrance into the workshop and its cave system, he'd never be able to get everyone out. His friends had to start moving now and because of his own idiot unthinking mistake he hadn't left himself any way to tell them!

His brain flashed through a series of plans, or more accurately chased its tails through a small circle of uniformly objectionable ideas. Tails frowned in distaste as he settled on the best chance he had of alerting his friends inside, but reached for his weapons toggles anyway. One rocket right over their heads should do it, and if the gas was flammable after all, well, he'd deal with that problem when it came up. Cream and her mother had kept an extensive store of salves and other herbs; they could patch up the soldiers if any of them needed it. A little white missile flared to life on his lower wing and carved a contrail through the air. Oh, Geoffrey's never going to let me hear the end of this! Mercifully the intruders had the sense to duck back down into the fog as it blazed past, and Tails was already wheeling the plane around once again.

Or rather, he thought he was, but the wheel chocks did their job too well and as he threw power into what should have been a graceful turn he instead brought the entire Tornado off-balance and crashing down onto its left wings. He popped the cockpit without even thinking – he'd fix the damage later; for now he had to get back to the hangar and seal it. Someone had obviously gotten back on their feet already, because a wall of sound punched the air from his lungs as a cannon shot easily the size of one of his tails slammed by. All right, definitely time to be elsewhere then; the fox gathered his namesakes under him and sprang forward, clawing for distance.

And then the wind caught beneath his whirling tails and he jerked upwards out of the way of a second shell. Even with his ears ringing and the oxygen canister hammering his spine, he felt more alive than he had in weeks as his body sped up to join him in flight. The breath mask whirred in protest and he tore it off; it would only get in the way now. Tails at full speed could nearly keep pace with a cruising Sonic, and with a team of angry commandos hot on his tails he saw no reason whatsoever to hold back. While the soldiers tried to react, Tails lifted himself directly across the clifftop before reversing his tails' spin, driving himself downward into the waiting seaside hangar entrance. He flitted easily under the door and slammed his shoulder into the emergency seal lever, slamming both wide-open main doors shut as fast as their abused servos could handle. For a moment, the young fox just lay on the paved floor and panted as the world dulled back to its natural slowness. He always hated coming down from flying, even if he couldn't sustain any sort of lifting or high speeds for more than a few minutes at a time.

After a brief moment he clambered to his feet, telling himself off angrily for lounging around. He walked purposefully towards the door, only to stop short as Sonic burst through it with an uncharacteristically furious expression. Tail's tails wound nervously beneath him and his shoe once again started scuffing across the tarmac before he could stop it. He had a good idea of what the hedgehog had to say, and getting lectured on responsibility by Sonic was worse than getting a talking-to from Cream! At least the rabbit actually _practiced _what she preached, and it was always scary to let his big brother down.

But then the expression faded into relief and something remarkably like joy. "Tails, glad you made it back in! The skunk told me what you were up to and I went to the command room to watch. Hope I didn't break anything." The hedgehog's gloved hands were on Tails's shoulders now. Wow, Sonic really must have been worried about him. But there were more important things right now, and Tails shrugged out of his friend's grip.

"Don't worry so much, Tails," Sonic said with an irreverent twinkle in his green eyes that made the fox want to strangle him. "I already warned everyone." Oh. Never mind the strangling, then. "Knuckles didn't listen but he needs to stay with his pet rock and that's on the ship, so we've got him taken care of." There was even less love lost there than Tails had expected and he wondered if Knuckles had confronted Sonic since that last meeting. "Vanilla got the others moving while I was dealing with him. Not like anyone had anything to pack, really, so," he waved grandly at the cold hulk of the Blue Typhoon, "there you go."

Tails swallowed hard several times before he was able to talk again. "Thanks," he said simply. "If I give you a list could you help me grab some parts from here before we climb on? I don't know how well it'll fly and I'd rather fix it as I go than slam us into a mountain somewhere." He knew there were a million and one things he ought to do, checks he needed to run, a last search through the caverns to make sure everyone was out, but he trusted Sonic and in a moment of crisis that was enough. Besides, he had fouled things up more than enough times for one day. Better if Sonic took over from here.

The hedgehog tossed him a thumbs-up and Tails found himself grinning harder than he had in months. There was an edge to that grin, and fatigue dragged it down, but for all the changes that had rocked their lives things were finally getting back to abnormal. Him wandering with Sonic and Knuckles again, seeing the world, facing down its dangers, and maybe saving it somewhere along the way. Even if he had more responsibilities than when it had just been the three of them alone, for just a moment he felt up to them. And even when it turned out he wasn't, he knew Sonic and Knuckles would be there to help him out, like they always were.

Tails pulled himself out of his reverie and meandered around the workshop, cataloging everything he had to pack. It was a shame to leave the two Tornadoes but he could always come back for them on his own time – the work he, Chuck, and even the well-meaning Sonic had put into both of them basically guaranteed that nothing less than solar fusion could destroy them. For that matter, if he packed right he could probably build another fighter if he had enough spare time, although he'd miss Uncle Chuck's voice recordings in the old plane. The tools he needed were neatly boxed, by and large; it wasn't like he had touched any of them since they all came home. But there was a special item and he didn't quite feel up to grabbing it himself just now. "Sonic, could you get the, ah, flowerpot for me?" The hedgehog didn't question, didn't protest, and mercifully didn't even laugh. Tails stacked workboxes and spun himself up into the air to support them more easily, but hadn't quite made it to the hatch when Sonic blurred back into view holding a simple fired-clay pot with the barest hint of a shoot starting to show. Their eyes met for a moment, and for once in their long friendship there was no trace of levity or irreverence. Then the moment passed and the grin snuck back, and Tails found one to match it. Now everyone was here, and it was way past time to go.

* * *

"Cream, could you come with me, please?" This was ridiculous. He shouldn't have to drag one of his friends to the auxiliary bridge just because he needed a comfort blanket! He should be over this by now, and that was more or less what Sonic had told him when he asked his big brother. Well, all right, Sonic was more concerned about leaning against a wall and blowing up the engine or something, which Tails had told him a million times wouldn't happen, but for some reason it had taken a lot more out of his confidence to hear it this time. His brother had to think he was acting like a spoiled little coward.

Well, he might be acting like child, but right now he felt he was entitled. He had passed the charred rubble of the Sonic Driver on his way up the conn tower, remembered everything that had happened to leave it like that, remembered firing Sonic and even Shadow at a beautiful cherry tree who seconds before had been a dear friend. The images were clear and strong and he knew that flying today wasn't going to be as easy as pressing a button. He somehow felt smaller than Cream as he watched her bounce closer, but no matter how tiny he might feel the grimy bulkheads that had once been such comforting blue and gold still pressed in on him. He hadn't been aboard the Blue Typhoon, or what was left of it, since Chaos Control had thrown them home through space after their final battle against the Metarex. He had left the ship as hollow and silent as their victory, and coming back to it now – well, he was owed a friendly face at the command terminal he had fired that final destructive shot from.

Now if only this wouldn't be so awkward! They'd been friends almost as long as Cream had been alive; if there was anyone who wasn't Sonic who would understand why he was asking, it would be her. Tails felt his cheekbones heating uncomfortably and knew his blush could be seen through his thin white cheek fur, and neither that nor Cream's sudden fit of giggles made him feel the slightest bit easier.

Still, it would be better than facing that past alone, right?

"This is where you were then, isn't it, Tails?" The fox kit ground his teeth together to bite back a curse on overly curious rabbit children, trying to keep his attention locked on the instruments and his thoughts as far away from Cosmo's death as they could be in this cabin. And that train of thought wasn't doing a single thing for either. At least she had left her Chao friend Cheese with her mother, because having an telempathic blue blob skittering around and wailing would probably be more than Tails could take just now. "Oh, sorry!" Cream's apology seemed genuine – and why wouldn't it be? – and Tails looked sideways from the control panel. She was crestfallen. If he had a spare hand he'd offer it – she hadn't meant anything by her comments, of course, even if she was making him regret bringing her to Auxiliary Control with him. Well, he might not have a spare hand but he could give the next-best thing, and he patted her shoulder awkwardly with one tail as he worked his panel. Cream straightened up a little at his touch and he felt himself easing too, however fractionally.

It took him about ten minutes to warm up the ship – ten minutes too long from Knuckles's standpoint, judging from the rhythmic thudding that reverberated through the hull. Then again, the Blue Typhoon had only been at a complete standstill a handful of times during their earlier misadventures and they had always had the Chaos or Master Emeralds to jumpstart it. Now the Chaos Emeralds were scattered across the planet like always, and the Master Emerald was lying in a few hundred pieces in the echidna's makeshift shrine in the engine room, so Knuckles and Sonic would just have to wait for the old gears and circuits to fire up the old-fashioned way.

And besides, it was incomparably awkward to turn on a two-months-dead starship when your hands refused to go anywhere near the tactical console.

Finally, gradually, miraculously, the battered old ship lifted into the air. With all of the Emeralds out of action and the hull punched in at no fewer than ten points it wouldn't be spaceworthy, but as far as Tails was concerned it just had to get them across one continent. He had a few friends in Spagonia on the southern coast, or at least he hoped he still did since space travel and world war tended to get in the way of even the best mail service. Cream twitched at Tails's nervous laugh, but braced herself again and pressed up against the still-extended tail. The fox still didn't know what it was about the action, but coupled with his less stressful train of thought it let him relax further and sag into the rigid plastic seat. He had no idea if the two professors he had once been pen pals with still taught at Spagonia University, but he didn't really have any better ideas for now than to check.

He was about to press his garage remote when the hangar door was suddenly opened from the outside. Opened quite dramatically, in fact, with a display of pyrotechnics he hadn't seen since – well, better not to go there when he had happier examples from further back, like about two thirds of his time with Sonic, and he didn't need any more reminders of two months ago. He bared his teeth and gave a snort of something similar to laughter as the armored figures locked up, probably trying to process the image of a fifty-year-old dreadnought-turned-carrier with palm trees studding its flight deck hovering towards them at head level. As the Typhoon inched forwards they finally started to react, one or two of the bolder ones snapping off useless shots as the rest pressed themselves as far into the grass as they could manage. Whoever those people were, they had to be sick of crawling around by now! The thought turned his feral grin into a much happier one, and Cream obviously got at least some of the joke since she joined him in a fresh burst of laughter. Finally they were clear of the mountain, a nice safe distance from the raiders, and just as a thicker weight of fire started to pummel their stern the backup engines flared to life and hurled the Blue Typhoon away from Tails's workshop.

He hadn't punched in any direction other than 'away from there as fast as possible,' but that could come in a minute. For all the tension that had pressed him to the deck just before, seeing the grey sky give way to a thick blanket of cloud and finally mirrored sunlight managed to both uncurl his spine and draw tears that not even the worst of his memories could reach. Cream caught his eye and reached out in concern, grabbing hold of the dangling tail before Tails shook his head. _It's been too long since I was up here, he thought_. _I've needed this too much_.

It was only when Cream nodded and gave him his tail back that he realized he had spoken aloud.


	3. Blue Typhoon

There were a lot of red lights in the Blue Typhoon. Tails could only remember one or two times that this many of them had been flashing at once, and both of them he'd much rather forget. At least they were working, so he could get a jump on the problems while they were all still airborne. He hurried down the corridors towards the engine room, cursing whatever architect had decided to put it so far away from the command decks. At least Knuckles could probably point him in the direction of the worst damage, assuming he hadn't caused any of it.

And assuming he was even willing to talk. Judging by their last conversation, Tails wasn't optimistic.

A hulking green crocodile lurched out of one of the cabins with an incongruously plaintive cry and tried to latch onto Tails's arm, decorative gold chains clinking all around him and pinching the fox's fur. Tails could understand the poor guy looking for comfort in the sudden confusion, but that understanding didn't get him any closer to the engine room. "Now isn't the time, Vector! I'm on my way down to deal with the problems right now, so give me space." Wow, that came out much harsher than he had meant it. "Sorry, I mean, we're having some problems right now but I can get on top of them before anything happens. The lights are just there to give us fair warning, remember?" Not really a lie but not entirely truthful either. The self-proclaimed Chief Detective seemed to accept it, though, because he backed up out of the way. Tails broke into a sprint as soon as he had a clear path. He wasn't going to let everyone down, not this time!

His stomach lurched up into his throat as the ship violently disagreed with him, and he pitched against the wall to his right. Smaller hands than the crocodile's managed to grab his shoulders and steady him before the bulkhead dented his skull, and he shot the purple chameleon who owned them a grateful smile before tugging free and sprinting down the hallway. Why couldn't Cream hold the ship steady?

He scolded himself before the thought had even cleared his head. He probably couldn't do any better at keeping the Blue Typhoon in the air if the engines were damaged, and of course it was his own fault that he didn't have a copilot or engineer. Chris had taken care of that before, and Cosmo had shown promise, but neither of them was here now and _I can't let myself go there, not now, this is an even worse time than back at liftoff_! The ship dropped what felt like another half-mile or so, mercifully dragging his attention back to more important issues like the battle-steel deck that had just bloodied his muzzle, and he scraped himself up and pressed on. Not far to the engine room's cross-shaft now.

* * *

Red lights had given way to green as Tails lowered himself carefully down the ladder into the generator housing, and that was more than a little worrisome because there _were_ no green lights inside the Blue Typhoon. The ship swerved yet again and he flattened himself against the bars until it steadied, ducked ears and clenched teeth the only indicators of the nasty bruises already forming across his chest from the first time that had happened to him in the shaft. Normally he'd have flown himself and touched down in a tenth of the time, but one close encounter with the reinforced plating had convinced him it was a bad idea right now.

At long last he dropped the last few feet from the ladder and immediately braced himself against the close walls in case Cream lost control again. The green was a strange shade, not just a tinted lamp but not like anything else he could put his finger on just now. Well, it was time to find out, wasn't it? He forged ahead, keeping his hands firmly on the walls, and then tripped over something thick and warm and nearly kissed the deck yet again.

His pinwheeling fall at least let him see what he had caught himself on, and he jerked back into the chamber as he realized it had been Knuckles's outstretched arm. The echidna was lying motionless against the edge of the main chamber, probably hurled across the open room by one of the worse jolts, and Tails figured it was a stroke of luck that his friend's powerful fists hadn't gotten wedged in any of the spiderweb of power conduits that bled out into the ship. He chuckled somewhat perversely as he realized he wouldn't have to argue with his stubborn friend again just yet, but trailed off as more urgent thoughts took back priority. The green light was getting overwhelming, and the fox squinted and blinked back tears as he stepped carefully over Knuckles and into the chamber. His generators in here all fed off of the ship's turbines themselves, or else the golden rings that he had tentatively managed to control. No malfunction he could think of would make that color, so what _was _it?

And then the realization finally came, and the ship could have blown apart around Tails without him noticing as he tried to wrap his mind around it. What were the odds that just as they took off for the first time in months, this would happen? Sonic and Knuckles said that natural Chaos energy worked off of emotions, but it seemed like the Emeralds had a mind of their own too. A mind with a nasty, malicious sense of humor.

Why else would the Master Emerald have reformed in exactly the right place and time to overload his ship's power grid?

* * *

A nudge against his ankle helped focus his thoughts. Knuckles was stirring behind him, and the echidna was the Guardian of the Master Emerald. If anyone could hold it down long enough to get the ship's systems adapted, it would be him. Of course, he wasn't conscious yet, which meant it was still Tails's responsibility to handle the situation. The fox steeled himself – he needed to be back on the bridge to do this, but by the time he got there the ship would probably have torn itself apart or slammed into a mountain somewhere. No, he only had one option and he had to hope Cream was still up for it. Saving the ship for him was a lot to ask of his youngest friend.

He sized up the viewport that separated the main engineering control room from the generator chamber he was in now, jumping into the air and spinning into flight as the ship dropped out from under him once again. The euphoria that should have accompanied the action was tamped down by nervous anticipation – this was going to _hurt_ – but that couldn't matter right now. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the Emerald's overwhelming glow, he could see the sparks erupting from the conduits that had already ruptured. Well, all he could do was his best, and it had better be enough! There couldn't be any other outcome.

At the peak of his flight he reversed his tails' spin and crashed feet-first through the large window, shards of 'shatterproof' glass embedding themselves in his flanks and tails as disintegrating chicken wire caught and tore at anything it could reach, but in a moment it was over and he landed heavily on the intercom switch. "Cream, are you on the bridge? Someone answer me!" He was panting heavily and he hoped his message had gotten through, because they wouldn't have time for him to rest first.

Mercifully a familiar chirp came back through the speakers. "What is it, Tails?" The fox sagged a little against the control panel.

"There's a black switch on the far left end of the control panel. It's under a plastic shield. Flip up the shield and hit that switch as hard as you can." Cream started to protest, or maybe just question, and he shook his head. "Do it! I'll explain later." It was all in her hands now, and Tails resolved to wire up a backup system down here in Engineering the first chance he got. And because it was all in her hands, he buried his head gingerly in his own when a crash and several words he was certain Vanilla hadn't taught her daughter rang out over every speaker on the ship. A sliver of glass was trying to edge under his right glove and he could feel his other cuts matting his fur, but that could all wait. In fact, it could very well end up being irrelevant, because if Cream had broken the switch or it wasn't enough that would probably be the end of all of them. It wasn't an unfamiliar thought, but it was hardly welcome either, and Tails felt himself straining to hear the sound that would signal success.

After a ten-second eternity the booming crack of the emergency shutdown set the hull shaking, and Tails collapsed with relief as the conduits stopped sparking. Most of his systems were still powered on, drawing purely on the Master Emerald, but they were through the worst of it as long as nothing else happened. Which, Chaos being Chaos, it almost certainly would.

"Cream, I'm coming back up to the bridge. Can you keep on the controls until I'm back?" He could hear fatigue in his own voice and wondered just how tired he had to be to realize that, but he knew from years of experience that landing – even crashing, like he normally did – was the hardest part of any flight and that went at least triple for something as fundamentally awkward as the Typhoon. He couldn't make Cream go through that on her own. He pressed off against the console, yelping as some of the glass shifted, and staggered towards the elevator back to the main deck. He really had to find out who had designed this part of the ship and have a _long_ talk with them about ease of access. Well, at least he wasn't thinking about the pain, right? Now he just had to hope Sonic didn't see him before he got where he was going; his big brother would pack him off to the medical bay without even realizing that Cream would be stuck in AuxCon alone.

Mercifully the hallways were empty this time and the fox didn't have enough spare thoughts left to wonder where everyone was. The command elevator was just up ahead, unless he was completely delirious, and it looked like the red lights had switched off at some point too. It was hard to tell considering the red film across an eye and a half that sent his vision skittering, but it didn't seem like any of that was artificial now and that had to count for something, right? The ship rocked again, rolling to starboard this time before shuddering back upright, and Tails broke into a staggering sort of run. The glass and wire had caught several sensitive parts, although nothing he was going to miss, and it was making it hard to get anywhere just now but if he could get to the elevator it wouldn't be a problem anymore and _there_!

He slammed his uninjured hand into the button for Auxiliary Control rather harder than the machine deserved, and the elevator glided into action. For a minute he just leaned against that hand, catching breath he hadn't realized he had lost, and a corner of his mind railed at the unfairness of getting beaten this badly by his own starship. Then the ship pitched again, nose-up for a change, and his rest turned into a desperate fight to stay upright without using his injured limbs.

The ship had just started to settle back down when he tumbled through the door, and he noted distantly how Cream's brown eyes vanished entirely into shocked pupils. She tried to block him but the fox was in no mood for it, pushing her aside as he lurched to the controls. He didn't dare sit down but he could still lean well enough. Hands on the axis controls, he finally looked out the window at the cartwheeling landscape, and his eyes suddenly matched Cream's as he filtered out the harsh white glare of afternoon sun on sandstone and glass to see the waterfall at the end of a deep canyon looming over the bow.

He reached for the intercom panel even as he rammed the nose down to a "gentle" fifty-degree descent and threw the thrust into full reverse – better to hit the ground and skid than ram headlong into a solid wall. "Everyone, find something secure and strap yourself into it. I'll do what I can, but we're about to crash. We might bounce a few times, so stay strapped down until Cream or I tells you it's safe." How had he sounded that calm? Not even the Metarex had managed to do to the ship what that idiot Emerald just had, and he had probably just gotten them all killed. But still, as long as he was at the helm he could try to salvage a little of this catastrophe, and that was exactly what he was going to do!

And then the ship bucked again and this time Tails could see a rocket interceptor – maybe even one of the same batch from before – streaking out of the canyon from beneath them and clawing towards the sky. The fox wished he could do the same, but he could already see the riverbed at the base of the canyon and for once the ground meant safety. Well, at least from one threat.

There were no more jolts after that, probably because the geography was too dangerous to risk riding a rocket through, but that almost made things worse because now the only thoughts Tails had were of what would happen when they met either the canyon floor or one of its walls. Would Cream be all right? Knuckles hadn't looked so good when Tails left him, but he was tough, he'd probably be fine. Would there be enough left of the Blue Typhoon to put back together? And who was going to keep the peace between Sonic and Knuckles if –

His thoughts cut off with axelike finality as the ship touched down. Squeals of tortured metal met the hurricane thunder of grinding rock and the hiss of vaporized water, all sounds Tails never wanted to hear midflight again. But more importantly was Cream's sudden and suddenly truncated yelp as she vanished from over his shoulder and if he could balance well enough to turn to her he would have. The sounds rang out louder and louder, and then finally stopped as the ship steadied, but Tails's gut told him they were still in the air, which meant...

The whole cycle started again as the Blue Typhoon's bounce gave out. Three more times it skipped closer towards the looming waterfall, and by the second Tails was flat on his back despite the stabbing pains from the glass as the impact drove it deeper. Finally, with the waterfall mere meters from the flight deck, the ship ground to a final halt. Relaxing silence replaced the ringing in Tails's ears, and the glaring sunlight and blazing red alarms gave way to black. The pain receded, and with a final jolt to the back of his head vanished altogether into a calm nothingness.

* * *

Tails opened his eyes slowly. For a few minutes, he wasn't entirely certain that he had, because everything was still just as dark as it had been before. But no, he could feel the hard metal deck under him, feel the gaps between the plates where they tugged at his fur, feel the stir of air through the bridge. He even recognized some of those deck plates from when he had sat here staring into space after Cosmo. But even deep space wasn't _this_ dark.

The fox tried to push himself up. Unfortunately, he used his right arm, and a sudden sharp pain against the bottom of his wrist brought him right back down to the deck with a yelp. _Right, the glass, I forgot._ Someone padded around behind him and a welcome voice spoke softly in his ear. "Oh, Tails, you're awake." He rolled and squirmed to face Cream, and his eyes were already adapting well enough to let him see her, if only vaguely. Something seemed off and he looked hard at her until it finally clicked. Her right ear was pressed unnaturally against the back of her head.

Tails opened his mouth to ask if she was alright, but she pressed a finger to her lips and eased him back onto the deck. "I'm fine, Tails. I woke up a little while ago and wanted to wait for you before I went to check on the others." Well, that answered just about all of his questions, although from the way she was carrying that ear he could just about guarantee that she was lying almost as badly as he was going to about being okay.

Tails stripped off his right glove cautiously, grateful for the darkness that hid both his action and the blush he was sure accompanied it. He wasn't used to the feeling of open air on his hands or feet, and somehow being next to Cream only made it more awkward. Luckily the glass shard – a big one, too, no wonder it had been so painful – fell out almost immediately and clinked onto the deck. Now he just had to be careful not to roll over on it, and as soon as he had his glove back on he plucked it between thumb and forefinger. There, that was the worst one for the moment, he could deal with the rest later.

Tails stiffly pulled himself to his feet despite Cream's squeak of protest, crossing to what was left of the bank of controls and depositing the offending shard in it. "I'll be alright, Cream. Now let's go find Sonic, okay?" He couldn't make out her expression, but he could guess. What he really wanted to do right now was curl up and go back to sleep, but other people might not have that luxury. And besides, he owed them any help he could offer, assuming there was anything he could do.

And that anyone trusted him to do it.

Regardless, getting to the others proved to be much easier said than done. The fox had no idea what had happened to the Master Emerald after the crash – if it had broken again Knuckles would probably skin him alive, although that was a problem for when he was awake – but nothing was working, not the ship, not the emergency lighting, and certainly not the elevator doors. Tails tried to pry them apart and was rewarded with a serious cramp between his shoulder blades but little else. Exasperated, he looked around the cabin for an alternate exit. "Oh no. This isn't happening," he informed Cream flatly as he looked at the transparent-alloy viewport. Well, he had enough glass in him to build his next fighter anyway, why not add some more? All the same, he wasn't exactly disappointed when Cream grabbed his hand and placed herself squarely between him and the window.

With a sigh, Tails turned back to the heavy double doors blocking them from the elevator. He might be able to pry them open eventually, but with all the debris clattering around inside him that was a lot less certain than it might normally be. He sat down heavily and began feeling around for any protruding glass or particularly sharp pains – by and large it had blended into a general burning, and he was working almost entirely blind, so progress was much slower than he wanted it to be. After a particularly badly-timed tug drove a shard in deeper and dragged out a yip that set the cabin ringing, Cream knelt next to him and started hunting for glass in his bushy tail fur. He tried to wave her off repeatedly, always using the way she kept nicking her fingers even through her gloves as an excuse, but mostly he just wanted a little distance and a chance to breathe because his cheeks were practically luminescent and this whole experience was more embarrassing than he was ready for at this time of night!

He was far from glass-free and was bleeding from places he didn't even know he had when they finally stopped, but with just their natural night vision to work with any more work would probably do more harm than good, and besides the fox's nerves couldn't take another minute. He pulled away to the left, away from the growing pile of glass they had collected. He didn't want to hurt Cream's feelings – she had been very helpful and it wasn't her fault he was so uncomfortable, after all – so he told her "Your mom must have taught you really well, huh?"

She nodded in the darkness. "Yes, she did. And I learned a lot from Cosmo too –" she broke off in a hurry as she realized what she was saying to whom.

But for once it wasn't a painful thought. Cosmo hadn't thought she had many skills, but she had shared whatever she could and made herself a useful member of the team, and more importantly a good friend. Not like Tails, who basically just provided the ship and sat back after that. It wasn't surprising she had taught Cream first aid – she had always wanted to help, and never thought it was enough.

Even when it was too much.

All right, _now_ it was turning into a painful thought, and the young fox wondered if those memories were always going to spiral downwards like that. He got back to his feet and stretched mightily, yawning as he did. "Cream. Could you help me with that door, do you think?"

The chamber was a pleasantly warm dark, and he and Cream echoed each other's yawns as they worked – at least twice Tails had tried to edge Cream aside so she could sleep, but she surprised him both times by rallying and getting back to work – but somehow they were both still awake when the doors finally yielded. The inner doors parted with them, mercifully, and the two were left staring at the elevator. The powerless, frozen, stationary elevator that only had an escape hatch in its roof.

Tails knew that Cream could fly with her ears if she was particularly motivated, but it tired her out even faster than keeping pace with Sonic did to him and besides she had her own injury to worry about. The fox ground his teeth as he looked up at the hatch and thought about how he could get into the rest of the ship. The main bridge no longer existed, so he could fly out of that, and then come back around through the lower hull, and then duck in through one of the hull breaches, but if the doors belowdecks weren't working either…

He sighed and wrapped his arms under Cream's shoulders as he broke into an easy flight. It felt like she had gotten rid of all of the glass in his tails but that didn't do a single thing for the pain, and the snarls in his matted fur only made it harder. The young fox ground his teeth together and held his passenger up so she could open the hatch for both of them, then stared up the shaft at a shelf of twisted metal that probably used to be the main bridge. This was going to be a _long_ night.

It already had been a long night, Tails realized as he scrunched himself up and levered a last half-melted bulkhead off of them with all six limbs. For a minute, he just lay there panting, taking in the cloudless dawn, and he was conscious of Cream sitting down beside him as he recovered. He twitched away, wincing as a jabbing pain revealed another piece of glass they had missed. Cream was being incredibly helpful and obviously cared about how he was doing and he ought to be grateful, so why was this feeling so awkward? If he had had the energy he would have slapped a palm against his perch. He hadn't felt like this around Cosmo and that was the closest parallel he had. Emotions and instincts were always such a pain to deal with – they never made sense, and it wasn't like you could reproduce them at will to find out either.

And the rapid chain of bizarre thoughts was only tiring him out further. That wasn't a good thing since he still had to get down from here and back into the ship, and he moaned aloud at the thought. Cream gasped a little, but the moan had been buried in a yawn so mercifully she didn't try to intervene. Tails had no idea how he'd have reacted if she had. "Come on," he started to say, but another yawn stole the words. It really was a beautiful view – space was so bright but still so empty, and it had been years since he had had this kind of view to a sunrise. Before Sonic, in fact, or maybe a few times when the hedgehog was somewhere else, but there was always something else going on to distract him. There was now too, come to think of it, but he would have to _move_ first and after everything else moving was the last thing on the young fox's mind.

The two were still sitting there as the sky shot from rose into crisp blue, but Tails had long since stopped watching. His eyes were closed, his head cradled between his chest and his tail fur, his worries and his obligations all left for the future.


	4. Shattered

Tails woke up slowly. Ears flicked in a warm breeze, tails rubbed his face as he tried to pull himself back into comfortable darkness. Then the edge of one of those massaging tails caught in a gash in his side and any chance of getting back to sleep right now vanished. His ears and tails shot straight up and he whined with the sudden pain, but at least the undignified sound gave way to a faint growl soon enough. It wasn't like it had hurt that badly; after all, the injury had already been there and it wasn't even bleeding, was it? It had just caught him by surprise, that was all, he could deal with it. The young fox sighed as the all-too-familiar train of thought rumbled through.

Cream rolled a little but mercifully was in no danger of falling, and Tails crossed his arms behind his head and relaxed into them again. Good, at least he hadn't woken her up. The sunrise was probably going to do that for him in another half-hour or so anyway, so – wait. Sunrise.

Tails let out a completely different sort of cry, and this time Cream never had a chance. The rabbit girl rolled up onto her hands and knees groggily, padding herself against the metal with her skirt, and looked over at the suddenly frantic fox. "Tails? What's the matter?"

Tails winced as he replied. "It's sunrise. Sunrise, Cream!" He balled his hands into fists. "It was sunrise when we fell asleep! We've been out an entire day!" He pressed his face heavily into one of the slagged struts. "An entire day, and everyone is trapped down below. I don't even know where we are; they might be overheating or dehydrated or –"

Mercifully Cream cut him off before his thoughts ran too much further away with him. "I'm sure they're all fine, Tails. After all, they have Mister Knuckles and Mister Sonic to look after them. Mom can take care of the two of them too. Don't worry."

Tails didn't take his face out of the girder, but at least he brought up a fist to support himself. He groaned a little but didn't reply. Cream was right; if Sonic, Knuckles, and Vanilla couldn't take care of all the others then no one could, but he still had responsibilities. He was the one who had crashed the ship, after all, and the least he could do was clean up after his own mistakes. Eventually he pushed himself back upright and rocked on his heels a little. "All right, that's enough moping out of me." Cream smiled and giggled a little, much to Tails's irritation – and immediate disgust when he realized what he was feeling.

He bit down hard on his anger, instead hopping up a little and starting to twirl his tails. He held out his arms for Cream and she clambered aboard enthusiastically. It was probably the fault of whatever head injury – or maybe just fatigue, he certainly didn't feel like he had slept a full day – had knocked them both out, but he didn't have his normal euphoria as he took off. Ah well, a problem for another time. "All set down there?" he asked, barely stopping himself from calling it out like he would have over his speaker system. Cream took a moment to adjust her injured ear, which Tails was glad to see had nothing worse than a solid bruise, and then nodded agreement. Tails was away, leaving behind the wreckage of the old bridge and flitting towards the shadowed canyon wall.

He had just meant to wheel around in the extra room and come back aboard through one of the hull breaches, but what he saw halfway up the cliff nearly jarred him out of his flight. Cream saw it too, squirming in his arms to point it out. "Isn't that Mister Knuckles? But what is he carrying?" It was indeed the echidna – at the very least, Tails didn't know any other red creatures with dreadlocked quills that could scale a vertical rock face with one hand. But the massive burlap sack hanging below him was a bit more of a mystery. Or maybe not – this was Knuckles, after all, there were only so many options.

"Cream, I'm going to set you down, okay?" Tails dropped as quickly as he dared with a passenger, hovering a few feet from the pebbly river bank at the bottom of the canyon as he let Cream drop down. She landed perfectly, and relieved of his burden the young fox pointed himself upwards once again and flew to intercept his echidna friend.

"Tails." Knuckles identified him without breaking rhythm.

"Hey, Knuckles, can I help you with that? If it's what I think it is and you don't want me to, I understand, but…" He trailed off, letting the question hang like the echidna's precious cargo. It would be almost unprecedented if Knuckles let him handle said precious cargo, but then again it was a deep valley.

After a moment's consideration Knuckles grunted and waved the bag, once again nearly startling Tails into a crash. The fox hovered closer, taking a tight grip of the top of the sack, and promptly dropped a solid ten feet when Knuckles let go. Already panting heavily, he strained and drove his tails faster, but brute force work wasn't going to get his payload over the cliffside. He was flagging now, and Knuckles was never going to forgive him – nor should he – if Tails let this fall. But then his own erratic motion gave him the idea. He let himself fall forward slightly before jerking himself back up, and although his muscles were threatening to cramp and toss him out of the sky he was rocking now. He swung back and forth, putting even more strain on his tails briefly, but then finally he had what he desperately hoped was the right momentum and let the sack fly. A glint of sunlight on green stone confirmed his suspicions, but he was too busy flopping up onto the already warm rock and catching his breath to care. "Out of shape," he gasped to himself. Yet another thing he had neglected during his long stay in the workshop. Sonic would never have let him lose it like that before.

Knuckles dragged himself up the cliff face not long after. "Not bad, Tails." The fox had pulled himself to his feet but was still doubled over, hands on his knees. While he stood there, Knuckles crossed to the Master Emerald's sack and slung it over his shoulder as if it were weightless.

"Where," Tails forced out between gasps, "are you going?"

"Home," the echidna responded simply enough. Of course, Tails had no idea where the levitating Angel Island was and he doubted Knuckles did either, but the Master Emerald would probably show them the way. "On my own, Tails." Oh. Had he been that obvious? "I've been stuck with you and him for a month now. I need some time to myself."

"What is it, Knuckles? I still don't understand why you're so mad at us." Tails asked again, standing up now that he could breathe normally. Hopefully this wouldn't just be a repeat of their conversation in the tunnel. He just had this one shot to keep Knuckles with him.

The echidna squared his shoulders, but then relaxed them with a rough sigh. "I saw the glass," he said after a moment. Tails blinked. The statement made sense, true, but that didn't make it any less nonsensical. The fox cocked his head to one side and pricked up his ears in his best "I'm listening" pose. "Emergency shutdown, right?" Of course Knuckles would know all about that; he had literally lived in the Engineering section on the last trip. "And crashing right through the reinforced glass was the best idea you could come up with?" Tails just looked at him blankly, trying to slot the sentences together.

Knuckles interrupted his thoughts by punching one fist into the ground, splintering the brittle sandstone crust. "That's the problem with both of you," the echidna explained in a perfectly level voice. That could either be a very good sign or a very bad one, and right now Tails could just hope. "You think so much, Tails," and now a bit of a smirk crossed the echidna's stony face, "but you never think! You just go with the first option that might work and then hope for the best no matter how much it hurts!" Knuckles closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. His voice had risen, but when he spoke again it was flat once again. "And you're the only one who gets even that far." Purple eyes opened and bored into blue until Tails flinched away.

"It was the only thing I could do," he started to protest, but Knuckles cut him off before he could defend himself.

"There's always other options! Look, even I could think up a few and I was flat on my back two minutes before. Knock the Emerald off the shrine, maybe, or go up and around if you've got a free minute. Anything!" Knuckles shook his head disapprovingly and Tails's heart melted. _I_ _can't lose another friend_! _Except_..._I think I just did_. "You're the one who should find them, too, most of the time, since no one else bothers to try." Knuckles spun on his heel, speaking over his free shoulder as he hefted the bag again, and Tails threw his hand out.

"Knuckles, wait." What did he say? How could he change his friend's mind? He couldn't throw away another friend, not so soon. "Please. I can help you work this out -" Knuckles didn't let him finish, and the kit felt his eyes starting to burn. _Knuckles, please_! _Sonic always says friendship never dies_; _don't let me kill another one_.

"Sorry, Tails, I need to sort through my own thoughts and I'd rather not have Sonic catch up and drive them out of my head." The echidna took off running, kicking up dust and shards of rock as the Master Emerald thumped against his back, but slowed himself and spun with surprising grace. "Sorry if I was too rough on you back in the workshop, Tails. I'll be back once I've had time to mull things over." The fox was too surprised by the echidna's sudden softness to actually say anything, instead just staring after him for a few minutes until Knuckles faded into the heat shimmer already rising against the horizon. He knew his friend had just given him all the information he needed, but for some reason none of it was clicking. The tears he felt weren't coming, not just yet, and rather than wrestle his confused emotions into submission the way the echidna would Tails set about looking for a distraction. Anything would do.

At least being up here at the top of the canyon gave him a good view of the surrounding terrain, and Tails tried to dredge up enough facts from his geography textbooks to place this specific landmark. It was easier than thinking about how badly he had let Knuckles down. "Let's see," he muttered to himself. "Sand dunes, of course, but the river is flowing…" he paused to figure out where the sun was, "north…west?" That would about fit, since the side of the canyon Knuckles had been climbing was still in shadow. "And it's got some fairly fertile soil just upstream there, so that should mean…" A few more minutes of thinking and pacing finally gave him his answer. He had overshot fairly badly during the flight, but he had probably entered the canyon near its mouth – and considering the way it curved just downstream, he definitely had to thank Cream for handling the ship so well. He doubted he could have piloted the unwieldy Blue Typhoon any better, especially under the circumstances. And if he had figured things out right – always a risky assumption – they could find a welcoming town not too extremely far from their crash site. Well, it had been welcoming before, at least, but he hadn't visited the region for two years, long before he left for Earth let alone fought the Metarex.

One never knew, and Tails did not deal well with uncertainty. _Which is why you just let Knuckles throw you away_. _You could have asked what he meant, you could have thought it through_. _That's what yo__u're supposed to be good at, isn't it, Tails_?

* * *

The trip back down into the canyon was much easier than the one up it had been, although Tails was already dreading having to ferry his band of merry castaways up to the shady riverbank above that waterfall – and he had torn up every tree and bush in sight during the crash, so they couldn't forage down here. Hopefully they wouldn't have to live off the land for long, because he was the wrong fox to ask about poisonous plants. Kind of ironic, all things considered. Tails started to chuckle at that thought, but it died in his throat. No, making light of everything didn't work either. Good to know.

Cream had already gone back aboard, or else she had scampered off somewhere out of view, but Tails trusted she could take care of herself if she really had to. More than likely she had reclaimed her little Chao friend Cheese, which would mean she was back with her mother and everyone else. The shrill voice blaring out of the nearest hull breach was a much more immediate concern.

"I'll get him for you, Sonic! You won't have to worry!"

"Hang on, Amy, that's not a good –"

If Sonic had anything else to say Tails never heard it, since the moment he hauled himself through the hole in the hull he caught a yellow hammer to the midriff and was catapulted back out onto the heat-fused sands of the riverbed. He splashed incoherently in the warm shallows for a moment as his eyes refocused. Amy was chattering something from the hole, probably an apology, and Tails smiled a little despite himself. If she was energetic enough to go swinging that hammer things couldn't be too bad.

"Tails!" Sonic leapt past Amy's outstretched hand, balled up midflight, and spun through the air to land squarely next to Tails. Even after everything that had hit him, he was just as energetic as ever, and the acrobatic display widened Tails's smile. "Bud, are you okay?"

The fox looked up at his brother. "Been better," he replied a little weakly, but he grinned as he said it and Sonic visibly relaxed. "Were you looking for me?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, the skunk. We found everyone except him, and I really wanted to talk to him." There was an unusually hostile edge in the hedgehog's normally flippant voice, one Tails recognized from probably half the times Sonic and Geoffrey had been in the same room. That talk was one he was extremely glad he didn't have to witness. But then, there was another part of Sonic's statement that got Tails's attention.

"You said 'everyone.' So you know about Knuckles?" The fox was a little apprehensive – if Knuckles and Sonic had quarreled again before the echidna left, this might be a sore spot. _Emeralds, __p__lease don't let me mess things up with Sonic right now too_!

Luckily Sonic just tossed his head. "Yeah. Took him most of yesterday to get his pet rock packed up. He was too busy with that to bother looking for you."

Tails winced, an action that seemed to be happening quite often this morning. He hadn't even thought that the others might be as worried about him or even Cream as he should have been over them! "Don't worry, Sonic, I was fine, and I think Cream was all right up there too."

Sonic chuckled. "I wasn't worried. Just wanted you to know we were all right."

Sonic was laughing, but Tails couldn't yet. "You, ah, are all fine, right, Sonic?" His big brother had kept secrets before when he thought it would be easier on Tails, and the little fox hoped this wasn't another one of those times.

"Ease up, little bro! I said we're fine and we are! Well, Vector nearly got to the kitchen, but Vanilla chased him out before he could do any damage." Sonic reached out and Tails took his hand, rolling back up on his feet. Then the levity dropped for an instant. "And the, uh, seed. She's all right too. You do a good job packing." And that was that, and the grin was back. Tails, meanwhile, found himself blinking furiously. The seed was safe. He couldn't save her then but if there was even the slightest chance there was no way he was losing Cosmo again now.

"Thanks, Sonic." His voice was husky and he kept blinking, but the tears still weren't coming – still hadn't not even after Knuckles left him. That was definitely a good thing right now; he didn't want Sonic to have to worry about him if he could avoid it. And besides, it wouldn't help him if he faced the others with bloodshot eyes and wet fur. Well, wetter fur, and finally the smile came back. He saw Amy hop down from the ship and twitched his head in her direction. Sonic looked quickly and then snapped back to Tails.

"Thanks for the heads-up, bud. Let's get you dried off first, then we can figure out what to do from here." Before Tails or Amy had a chance to react, Sonic had scooped his little brother up and launched himself back onto the ship. Tails nearly cheered despite himself, especially as Amy swore once again to chase them down. That was never going to get old. Still, it was only a start on repairing his mood.

* * *

It took Tails longer than he expected to get the river water out of his fur, although he supposed he should be grateful their hard landing had glassed the sand beneath so he didn't have to deal with mud. On the subject of glass, it seemed he and Cream had been incredibly successful, because all of his injuries had stopped bleeding and he couldn't find a single loose shard left behind. Considering the roughness with which he had to towel himself off, he was certain he would have noticed.

He was still spinning his tails gently to shake off the last stubborn bits of moisture when he entered the mess hall just outside the ship's medical bay. The Blue Typhoon hadn't been laid out like that when he found the old hulk, but he figured the less of the ship they had to use the better when they had seven people rattling around in a hull meant for seven hundred. That made it much simpler for him to find his own quarters from the outside and everyone else from within, and he fervently blessed whoever – probably Knuckles, come to think of it – had gotten the regular generators running again after the crash. It certainly made his life easier, although he kept telling himself he ought to have been there to take care of it.

But that was all in the past now, and he was trying to distract himself from actually going into the galley. He had made a mistake – quite a few of them actually, though that was nothing new – and now he had to apologize to everyone. Again, nothing new, so why was it always so hard for him to march in and do?

And mulling it over was another way of distracting himself, and with a mutter the fox keyed open the door. Everyone was gathered there waiting for him. Cream had gotten herself both Cheese and a fresh dress, Sonic was somehow standing still for once, and an ever-growing part of his mind told him to tuck his head into his tails and run for safety. "I, uh, I'm sorry." Apologies were easier one-on-one, weren't they? That was a weird little difference – enough, Tails! "I really haven't lived up to my responsibilities over the last couple of days, I guess." Look at them, not the floor. "So, um, I think I know where we are, so if Sonic wants to he can go get help, and I, uh, I..."

There were mutters running through the crowd, a couple of people edging towards the doors, and that bug-eyed look Vector was giving him was just so dizzying he couldn't meet the crocodile's eyes. In fact, his vision was skittering from surface to surface.

And suddenly it wasn't. It was just black, and he felt his limbs hammer the deck in a confused tumble before that shut off too.

* * *

Tails woke up feeling much more relaxed than he probably ought to, considering his vivid memory of the moment before his collapse. Then again, it felt like hours had passed. Considering it was still dark, with silvery starlight almost but not quite turning the sand and sandstone into a mirror, that was probably the case. He stretched and pushed himself to his feet. It couldn't have been that bad a fall after all, since he could still move just fine and nothing really hurt. But why was he out on the sands above the canyon?

A sudden shower of dust answered his question. "Tails, great, you're awake! What happened to you in there, bro?"

Tails crossed his arms behind his head as he turned to face Sonic, rubbing up and down his neck nervously. "I guess I kind of," his voice went even smaller than usual, "hit my head a little hard during the crash."

Sonic slapped his face. "Come on, Tails, it's okay when I do it but I've told you before – let me know when that sort of thing happens, okay?" He put a companionable arm on Tails's shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure you'll be fine in a few days. I always am!"

"So, Sonic, what happened to the meeting?" Tails could deal with his injuries later.

"Oh, Vanilla and Cream came over and scared everyone off. I figured you needed a bit of time to heal so I ran you up the cliffside, and, well, here we are." The hedgehog gestured broadly at the sea of rock and sand. Then he wrinkled his nose. "Wherever 'here' is."

"Shamar," Tails said with more confidence than he thought he could muster so soon. "The nearest big city should be behind the crash site and to the right, keep heading north-northeast."

Sonic laughed. "If you say so. Tomorrow though, I bet you're tired."

Tails shook his head. "Nah, I've slept plenty over the last two days. Let's get started!"

"Sure thing, little bro," Sonic said with a wink. He sped off, keeping a leisurely pace – for him – and challenging Tails to follow. There was no need to fly just yet, though, and Tails darted off along the rock beneath the shallow sand, calling out frantically.

"No, Sonic, I meant this way!"

He knew he had duties back at the ship, things to do, people to see, other friends that needed help. But on the other tail, he was having too much fun chasing after Sonic.

This was exactly what he needed.


	5. Ghost Stories

There was a strange sort of beauty to southwestern Shamar. Tails had never really been one for deserts, even if his big ears helped him shed heat in a hurry, but after the Metarex he was a little nervous in forested areas too. Also, being out on the dunes at night was a completely different experience from his earlier day trips. There was a much softer light to everything, one that brought out colors and details instead of saturating them beyond all recognition, and rock formations that would have held overwhelming detail in the light floated almost dreamlike now. Not to mention it was massively cooler, and that was never a downside to anyone with as much fur as Tails had.

It was easy for the fox to follow Sonic, even across this fairly deep sand. All he had to do was look for the strip of bare rock where his friend had blown everything softer clean away. At least he had managed to get Sonic pointed in more or less the right direction before they had lost more than a half-hour or so. Of course, tell Sonic to run and you'd never catch him again, which explained why Tails was now just hovering along soaking in the desert scenery instead of pushing himself to keep up with the hedgehog. He still wasn't quite getting into flying, though, so he was probably more tired than he realized. That thought morphed into a yawn, and Tails giggled. Maybe he was a little sleepy after all.

Right on cue, the fox flinched away from the fresh grit Sonic sprayed up as he skidded to a stop right in front of him. "I thought you were checking ahead, Sonic," he said with a smile.

"Eh, I wanted to make sure you were alright first. The city isn't going anywhere."

"Neither are we," Tails pointed out. "Look, I'm fine. A bit tired, yeah, but that's normal."

Sonic gave him a long look – long for him, at least, since it lasted nearly two full seconds – then turned back to the trail he had carved through the sand. "If you say so, buddy." Tails knew his big brother was still worried about him, but there wasn't really anything he could do about that just now. He wound up his tails and hopped up into an easy flight, yawning as he went. This gentle starlight was going to put him right to sleep, assuming the fatigue didn't get to him first. _Don't let it think it has the option, Tails. You know better than that._

His little chuckle turned into a cough as he caught a face-full of Sonic's backdraft. He was keeping up, and that was good enough for now.

* * *

The dunes and crags fell away behind them as they ran, giving way to a wide expanse of windswept sand gently sloping to a calm grey sea. To Tails's complete lack of surprise, Sonic skidded to a stop as the solid rock fell out from under him.

"You up for this, Tails?" Sonic asked, and Tails didn't need him to clarify. Everyone knew Sonic had problems with water, but the fox had been around him long enough to guess at why – and at why it made him leery around deep sand too. It made sense, didn't it, that someone whose greatest strength and pleasure came from running would stall out around places that took that away from him?

"I'm ready," Tails replied. He was still kind of sleepy, but there was no way he was letting Sonic down when his big brother needed him. He twirled his tails and spun into the air, sending gusts of sand slicing across the ground. "Hop on, Sonic." His big brother jumped straight up and caught both of Tails's hands, and the fox poured more energy into lifting them both clear of the ground.

"You seem kinda slow tonight, big guy. That headache still bugging you?" Great, he had Sonic on edge. His big brother had enough problems without needing to take care of Tails too.

Tails shook his head and tightened his grip. "Don't worry about it, I'm not about to let you fall." Come to think of it, Sonic had a point. The adrenaline that normally filled his flying time just didn't seem to be flowing today, and he hoped he hadn't really damaged something in the crash. Still, it was what he was here for, and he more than owed it to Sonic to see him to solid ground. Plus, even if he wasn't getting into his groove it was still a delightful night, with a cool temperature and just enough of a breeze to ruffle his fur. And there was no one shooting at him for a change; that was nice too.

Sonic, in his usual way, quickly grew restless and chose to dangle from just one of Tails's arms. For his part, Tails reacted automatically to double up on his grip, and he was used enough to his friend's antics to keep them both stable even as the hedgehog swung around and admired the scenery. Tails had to keep his head up and eyes front, but even from that he could understand why Sonic was so enthralled. The water and the moonlight had dyed the vast expanse of sand so silver it was almost blue – a definite plus for Sonic, Tails noted with a smirk – and little swirls ghosted over the surface in the occasional breaths of wind.

The thought sent a shiver through him that had nothing to do with the night air. Knuckles had shared dozens of stories of ruins so ancient even the dead echidna civilization hadn't known who built them, and every one of them featured some sort of malevolent spirit. If he remembered correctly, there was even supposed to be a cluster of them around here. And then the people of Shamar had a massive and well-imagined bestiary of demons and spirits themselves, which for all Tails knew were based on the same things the echidnas had encountered. No, no, leave those thoughts alone; he had to keep flying towards the barely-lit city that was starting to come into relief on the coastline ahead. He could scare himself with his word choice on his own time. Still, he looked around surreptitiously to make sure nothing was following them.

"There's the city, Sonic," Tails started to say before his tails snarled together and the duo lurched towards the ground. The fox managed to steady himself and get his rhythm back before they crashed completely, but it was a close-run thing. So close, in fact, that Sonic was frantically running in the air beneath him. It might have been funny if Tails didn't know that was probably the only thing that would have kept the two of them alive if he had crashed. The little dust storm his downdraft had caused showed him just how deep and loose the sand was around here, and Sonic would probably have gone right under if he had to make a standing start.

"Come on, Tails, you've had enough for one night. Let's find a nice stiff dune and crash, okay?" Tails wished Sonic had chosen a different word for it, but after that near-catastrophe he wasn't about to argue. He lifted them into a fresh hover, letting Sonic be his eyes, and started to piece together what had just happened. He hadn't done a late-night flight like this in years, and plus his reactions were slower than normal for whatever reason, so he supposed a slip-up like that wasn't too implausible. But still, he hadn't actually tangled his tails midflight since before he could remember – he'd even managed to drift down safely while unconscious before. It was something that bore further investigation later, once he was awake enough to put the pieces together.

And just a moment later, he wasn't awake at all.

* * *

Tails's whiskers twitched in a stale breeze, then his ears, then his tails. He rolled over groggily and then sat up with a yelp as he jarred his ribs on a rocky outcropping. He looked around. Sonic was snoring next to him, sand stains painting his entire body, and the thoughts Tails had had while he was asleep came rushing back to him. _You let him fall, Tails. He was relying on you and you let go._ Part of him wanted to argue, to say that it wasn't his fault, but he knew he could blame his odd fainting spells on another one of his mistakes anyway.

He wound himself tightly in his tails, drawing the comforting fur into his chest so hard he almost couldn't breathe. He knew he didn't want to have those thoughts, but if he couldn't argue against them then how – or why – should he stop them? Bitterly he realized he couldn't even blame Sonic for failing to bring Cosmo back to him, since he had let his brother down many, many more times than Sonic ever would him.

Then something clicked, not just a welcome distraction but a genuine puzzle. Those thoughts had come while he was unconscious just now, so how had he _had_ them? It wasn't like a dream either, he knew how those felt. No, it was just like he had closed his eyes and spent however long he was out brooding. He blinked away sleep and realized that that was probably exactly what had happened. He certainly wasn't any better rested than he had been when he fell on Sonic out in the deep desert. Wonderful, now there was another mark against him. He hadn't even had the decency to faint all the way – at least he didn't think so. He hadn't been awake to take notes any of the other times something had knocked him out. He'd have to ask Sonic – no, Sonic didn't take hits like that. He'd have to ask _Knuckles_ how head injuries worked, see if this was normal.

Thinking of Knuckles brought the fox back to the present. He didn't know where the echidna was now, but he hoped Sonic and Knuckles would be able to reconcile. Maybe he could even help; he'd have to see what happened. As for finding him, well, Tails wasn't even entirely sure where they were right now. It was a shallow canyon, more like the gap between two ridges than anything else, and the coarse rock jutted out like talons. They cast pools of shadow which were even more terrifying in their absolute blackness. Between the rock walls and the overhangs Tails could barely see the sky, but from what there was of it he guessed it was after moonset already. Great, another hours-long nap that didn't even give him any rest. That brought it up to three of those in two days.

At least there was still light on the sands at the visible end of the ravine. In fact, Tails could see Sonic's footprints dug into the sand all the way up to where his brother was sleeping. That had to have taken a lot out of the poor guy, and he wondered why Sonic hadn't just taken the two of them and gone to sleep on a sand dune like he had said just before Tails blacked out. Well, if Sonic could pour that much energy into making sure Tails was comfortable tonight then Tails was going to give it his all to get _Sonic_ to a nice comfortable bed and buffet in the morning, and he fluffed up his tails and balled them under his head. He curled up to face both Sonic and the wan light on the sands and closed his eyes again.

But sleep would not come. Those deep shadows reached out to Tails's thoughts from earlier and he found himself spinning around to peer into them. It was a completely pointless exercise, there was no light getting into them, but that didn't stop his mind from picking out movement in each one. What if this was an echidna or pre-echidna burial ground, or he had made Sonic take them to the entrance to some ancient temple without knowing it? Amy had gotten him to read some Shamari myths and they mostly talked about shapeshifters and elemental spirits, but Knuckles's stories had been much less specific. He could probably see a Shamari ghost coming and wake up Sonic if he just kept looking, but the things the echidna had told him about could move from shadow to shadow effortlessly. In fact, at least two of them could just _rise up_, turn the shadows into something solid, and Tails flipped onto his back and scurried away from the nearest black spot, heedless of the grit that worked its way into his gloves and sneakers.

Sonic stirred at the sudden movement and only the nearby darkness kept Tails from throwing himself at the hedgehog and burrowing into his arms for safety. No, no, he had already asked too much of Sonic over the past few days – the past few months – he had to do this himself, and he wasn't going to be able to if he kept _scaring_ himself like this! His pulse settled back down and he flipped himself up to sit on his tails. It was hardly a comfortable position, but that was kind of the point. He could spin in place to watch the whole canyon, and the ache would keep him up and focused. He wasn't going to get any sleep tonight anyway, so it didn't matter if it left him tired.

It certainly wasn't restful duty, no matter how dull his sight and hearing got. His brain insisted on running through the catalogue of mundane and mythological threats that might lurk in their ravine, and found himself if anything more creeped out by the thought of snakes and scorpions than by the ghost stories. After all, not all of those could be true, and they had met a few things in their day that could have passed for monsters but were actually perfectly friendly. But he had never cared for the way arachnids moved, and sharp claws and poison were both dangers he didn't care to encounter ever again.

* * *

Tails felt like hours had passed – he certainly hoped it had been hours so that they could leave soon – and nothing had happened in any of them. He knew his ears were drooping, his stomach and tails both screamed with the effort of keeping him propped up, and there were probably going to be bald patches on both tailtips from all the times he had spun on them after some false alarm or other. Still, though, he couldn't let himself fall asleep. He'd come up with too many dangers for that to be an option.

The one that finally emerged, however, wasn't one he had even considered.

It started with a few flecks of sand in his ear which flicked reflexively and then ducked to dodge the rest. The growing wind moaned down the canyon, echoing off of every surface and growing in volume and pitch both until even Sonic couldn't sleep through it any longer. The hedgehog balled up and catapulted to his feet, stumbling a little as the unexpected wind whisked the sand out from under him, and after a second of searching turned to face Tails.

"Tails!" The fox pushed himself to his feet and moved between the miniature sandstorm and Sonic's exposed eyes. "Thanks, bud. What do you say we blow this joint?" By the end of that sentence he had to yell to make himself clear across the maybe six inches that separated them, and Tails just answered with a nod. "Okay, hop on." He held out his arms and Tails clambered into them eagerly, frantic enough to be out of the ravine that all his other misgivings took a distant backseat. The fox wrapped his arms around Sonic's shoulders and held on tight as his big brother took off running through the teeth of the wind.

The sandstorm was, if anything, even more painful than the reinforced window back aboard the Blue Typhoon had been. Sonic had tucked his face into Tails's chest fur as soon as he had a straight shot out of the canyon, and Tails had wrapped himself around to keep his own face out of the worst of it. Even then they cut it so finely that a finger of rock took a gouge out of the tip of Tails's right ear. But then after a moment died down, the rocky funnel no longer there to amplify the storm, and shortly after that it passed altogether, only meandering eddies left behind. Tails uncoiled himself from Sonic's neck and looked around. There at the heart of the pulsating dust cloud was a very familiar – and extremely unwelcome – vehicle.

"Eggman," the two said in unison. Tails was the first to continue. "I wondered where he'd gone after he sent Chris home."

"I guess we know, huh? Come on, bud, let's keep moving." Sonic seemed remarkably unconcerned with their arch-nemesis's sudden reappearance. "Leave him alone until he comes looking for trouble, right?"

"Sounds like a plan," Tails said. Then, "But you're tired, Sonic, and I couldn't sleep. Won't it be better to wait for mor –"

Sonic hushed him. "Nah. You know what I think, big guy? I think something about that place had you creeped out, and that's why you looked like you were ready to beat something's skull in if it moved too fast." Leave it to Sonic to bullseye the problem, although Tails couldn't quite picture himself looking that violent. "What, you listen to one too many of Knucklehead's ghost stories before he left? Figures." Tails waved his hands in denial but Sonic seemed to know the truth. Another nail in that particular coffin, and was he _ever_ going to stop with the spooky metaphors tonight?

Sonic was still talking. "Plus, you really don't want to be out on this desert during the day. Come on, usually you're the one reminding me to carry a water bottle and take breaks in the shade when things heat up." True enough, although Tails had plenty to say about pretty much every biome. Their little star trek had given him plenty of exposure to all the different ways planets had to hurt people. "And hey, I got a little nap in and I feel like going for a run. The city's not all that much farther off than it was when you fell asleep anyway, so I say we go for it, okay, bud?"

What could Tails say? He wanted to refuse, to tell Sonic to go back to bed, but the hedgehog had made too many good points. On top of that, Tails was really feeling the effects of his long day – _hah, I've spent half of it sleeping _– and probably wouldn't be good for walking _or_ flying any real distance tonight. "Okay, Sonic. Thanks." He tightened his grip on Sonic and pulled his face into his big brother's chest fur. He relaxed into the vibrating rhythm of the run and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to catch up with him. This time it came, easing away his senses one by one.

* * *

Tails woke up with a start, and very nearly put himself back to sleep when his head collided with Sonic's at high speed. The hedgehog lost his grip and both of them collapsed unceremoniously. Even with the shifting pillow of sand Tails still felt like his brain was sloshing around in his skull and both of his tails tingled with numbness. "What's wrong, little guy? You have another bad dream?" At least Sonic seemed to have recovered quickly enough.

Tails chewed his lip. Sonic knew about those? Maybe he just assumed it – he probably had nightmares of his own from time to time. "Not a dream. Just…thinking." That was actually true, he realized. It was a lot more focused than his usual dreams and he felt like he had been directing it. Plus, it hadn't been about Cosmo and the Metarex, the battle on the ARK, or his life in the Emerald Hill Zone, so that pretty much ruled out the usual suspects.

"Figures," Sonic said with a laugh. "I don't think you ever _stop_ thinking."

Tails grinned back as broadly as his fresh headache would allow. "Only when someone hits me over the head."

Sonic rubbed his eyes. "Sorry about that, buddy. I had no idea –"

"No, no, I was joking! Don't worry, Sonic, I'll be fine."

"How many times have you said that today, Tails? I've lost count." Sonic _wasn't_ joking anymore, was he? "Look, we're probably ten more minutes from the town and I'm finding you a doctor first thing once the sun's up again."

"Look, Sonic, I really don't need –"

Sonic shook his head. "I know you don't want me to worry about you. So let them check you out, tell us both you're fine, and then I won't be worried anymore. Deal?"

Tails stared at the ground. "Okay."

"I didn't hear that," Sonic said with an ear-to-ear grin.

"Deal," Tails said much less sulkily. Sonic held out his arms again and Tails climbed aboard, but this time he turned as outwards as he could to watch the sandstone minarets race closer and the sand shift from silver to pink. It had been an eventful night, but at least they had made it. He could get a rescue team out to the people on his poor old ship once the city woke up, but more immediately he could get some rest. He wasn't feeling the benefits of his latest catnap yet, but that would probably come later in the day anyway. He held onto Sonic a little tighter and, for a few minutes, just let the world go by.

* * *

Author's Note: References to Tails's life in the Emerald Hill Zone are based on JudasFm's excellent work, which makes up the bulk of my personal fanon. If you haven't read her stories yet, I strongly encourage you to run over and start. Most of this is from Rising Star, but Secrets of the Emeralds is a good jumping-off point too.


	6. The Professor

The next time Tails opened his eyes he was on a wonderful downy mattress with a thin sheet spread over him. It was such a drastic change from the last couple of nights it was almost enough to make him uncomfortable. Almost, but not quite. He was already feeling recharged, and he had no intention of cutting his rest short when it was clearly working. _And besides, I haven't had a bed this soft since we left Earth_. Sonic must have found them a _really_ good hotel, and Tails found himself hoping his big brother was sleeping just as well as he was. Sonic deserved it; after all, he had had to carry Tails across deep sands twice while the fox was just dead weight.

It still wasn't enough to get Tails out of bed though. No, the only thing that managed that was the blinding rainbow the sun decided to cast rise directly through what proved to be a beautiful if abstract stained glass window. The fox sat up, grumbling and blinking away the afterimages. Something felt off as he threw back the sheet, and as he looked at himself he realized what it was. Someone had removed his gloves and shoes while he was asleep! Hurriedly Tails drew the sheet back up while he scanned the room for the missing articles. The gloves were neatly folded on a little stone nightstand beside him, and although he couldn't see his shoes he doubted they had wandered very far. Sonic had probably chosen to go clean their clothes – Tails had seen just how badly the grit had stained Sonic's fur and quills, and cloth couldn't have gotten off any easier. What had been humiliating was now merely embarrassing, and that for a completely different reason. Sonic had done so much for him last night, just like he always had, and just like _he _always had Tails didn't feel the least bit worthy.

But as long as Sonic had gone through so much trouble, Tails owed it to him to use this lovely bed for at least a few more minutes. A smile played across his lips before he fell back asleep. Yes, that was a sacrifice he was sure he could make.

Just as with last night, though, his thoughts betrayed him. _Sacrifice_. He hated that word. Everyone else kept making sacrifices. Chris had let his best friend go with a smile, Knuckles had left the Master Emerald unattended to stay with _his_ friends. Sonic managed to look after everyone's needs at once without ever once complaining or slowing down. Even Cream and Amy had given up their easy lives to follow the group and help out wherever they could. And then, of course, there was Cosmo. Tails couldn't group her in with the others, though, and not just because of how much more it had cost her. No, it was because everyone else seemed to give in ways that let _him_ live contentedly without giving much of his own, but with Cosmo he was finally starting to see just how much he demanded of everyone else.

It wasn't a happy thought, especially not because he couldn't see what he had that he _could_ give. He could throw machines at his problems forever but that wasn't the same, and he didn't expect it would be enough for Sonic or Knuckles or Cream for much longer. As ever, though, it was Sonic who interrupted his downward spiral. The hedgehog stood in the faux-pine doorway with one foot tapping and a grin swallowing his entire face. "Hey, little bro. Guess you're finally up, huh?"

Tails rocketed out of bed and latched onto Sonic, never mind his bare hands and feet. "Sonic, you're still here." For his part, Sonic tried to detach him but recognized the lost cause and just shrugged instead. Well, shrugged as best he could with forty-five pounds of frantic fox dangling from his neck.

"Hey, I wasn't about to leave you behind. Heh, just got up myself." Sonic nodded to his own statement. "It was a long day for you, wasn't it?"

"You too," Tails replied, looking directly into Sonic's eyes. It was uncomfortable to the point of painful, but he had to ask now. "You keep doing so much for me, and I haven't really given anything for you. So why –" Sonic hushed him just like he had on the desert last night.

"Not this again, Tails." Tails frowned. He hadn't had these thoughts before, and he doubted he would have been brave – or desperate – enough to bring them to Sonic even if he had. "Tails. Look at them." The frown deepened. What was Sonic talking about? Sonic pointed at Tails's nervously winding namesakes and the fox quickly brought them out for inspection.

He groaned. There wasn't really any other fitting reaction, except maybe a scream or a gasp of disgust. He had worn what had to be three-inch square bald patches into both them during last night's vigil, and the skin underneath had been badly chafed. He had no idea how he had missed that at the time, and now that he was looking at them the pain started to throb. On top of that his fur was practically grey with sand and dust, and there was that sore spot in his ear that had only just remembered it was supposed to hurt.

Sonic gave him a level look. "You were scared of something, plus you've been asleep on your feet since we got home. And you still did that to yourself because you wanted to keep _me_ safe from whatever was scaring _you_. So don't give me that whole 'I can't do anything' thing again, all right?"

_Okay_, Tails mouthed, unwilling to speak aloud in case his voice betrayed him again. Sonic cocked his head and cracked another smile.

"I didn't hear that, Tails." He dragged the words out playfully and Tails found himself grinning back.

"I said 'Okay,' 'kay?" He'd heard Charmy use that one before, and as annoying as the bee could be it seemed fitting.

Sonic smiled wider and then pointed at a closed door off to his right. "Now, you going to go take your bath peacefully or am I going to have to track down Knuckles and get him to dunk you?"

"You don't have to ask twice," Tails said with feeling. Sonic gave him a look of bug-eyed surprise, but motioned to the door as the fox unwound himself. "By the way, thanks for getting my stuff cleaned."

"Huh? Ah, I bet one of the staff took care of that for you. I had to do mine myself, but I guess I _was_ awake when I found this hotel." Sonic looked almost dreamy. "You know, if I had realized being world hero meant we got free beds like these I'd have taken you on a lot more of my trips."

"Just see if you still think that when you try the food," Tails warned from the threshold of the bathroom. His big brother's laughter followed him in.

* * *

Tails blinked furiously. It wasn't helping. Not this close to both noon and the equator. The old mud-brick and sandstone walls conspired to block off the sea breeze, and the fox wondered why anyone would deny themselves what had to be an enormous relief. He considered taking off just to get himself into the wind, but a moment's reflection on last night put paid to that idea. He and Sonic had split up to find a doctor's office – Tails had protested, but only for honor's sake – and if Tails gave out again he didn't know if the hedgehog would be able to find him.

At least the looks he had gotten from the various other people in the streets had been somewhere between friendly and curious. He had gotten much worse in the past, but come to think of it that had really dropped off since Sonic took him away from the Emerald Hill Zone. It was probably one of the perks of having a living legend for a big brother. He flicked sweat out of his eyes with a tailtip and reflected that the heat had at least been good for something – his fur had dried out faster and fluffier than it had been since before he had gone into space, and even as he wilted under the sun he still felt more alive than he had in months. Even if it felt like his brain had been running all through his sleep, he had definitely gotten a solid rest this time. And at least the town was easy on the eyes. Stained glass was in every window that hadn't just been left open and over all but a few lampposts, which went a long way towards breaking up the bright whites and beiges of the local materials. If it weren't for the weather, he'd actually have been enjoying himself.

His ears were already perked up as far as they would go to help shed the heat, but he strained them a little farther as he heard someone calling with the voice of the monocled colonel from at least two of Mrs. Thorndyke's mystery films. Yes, whoever it was was calling him, and no, he didn't recognize the voice, so he turned on his heel – and nearly collapsed as he took in who and what it belonged to.

He had never realized that his world had _two_ humans. This man wasn't built like Chris, either, for whatever reason, although he _was_ about the same height. No, he had limbs almost as long and loose as Tails's own and greying eyebrows that quite possibly outspanned Eggman's legendary moustache. For some reason, he was calling Tails's name – the full name, not the nickname – and the fox gave him a wave and a slack-jawed grin as he tried to figure out what exactly was going on here.

"Miles! Miles, is that you, young man?" The man came huffing up and planted his hands on his knees for support. Tails reached out to help prop up his shoulders and the man gave him a quick smile in return. The fox thought he was sweating even more than before as he took in the human's outfit – anyone who thought a full-body suit complete with jacket was a good choice for this desert clearly needed more experience with the climate. "Thank you, Miles," the man went on. "I had no idea you were going to be visiting! Have you come for the library here?"

Tails cocked his head and tried not to stare too blankly. "Um, sir, I just got here last night. My plane had a few problems and Sonic had to help me get into town. I was actually trying to get to Spagonia, but I guess I kind of overshot." He rubbed the back of his head guiltily. "Sorry."

Rather than get offended, the man shot fully upright and took hold of Tails's free hand. "You meant to visit Spagonia? Were you going to my university there?" Well, Tails certainly couldn't fault him for lack of energy and…wait, _his_ university?

"Professor?" Tails's jaw was still slack, but for an entirely different reason now. "Professor _Pickle_? I had no idea –"

"Yes, I know, Miles my boy. I only came down here a day or two ago myself and I must have forgotten to send you a message. I apologize – without my assistants I tend to forget details like that."

Tails had gone from rubbing his head to scratching it. "No, that's no problem," he said almost absently. "No, I just mean…I guess…what I'm trying to say is…." Man, this was an awkward thing to discuss with your scientific idol. "I didn't know you were…human."

"Oh." The professor hung his head and Tails reached out to reassure him. But then he swung back up and the fox froze. "I suppose I didn't mention it then. I'm not sure I realized just how young you were when you first wrote me; I assumed you would have already known. Again, I apologize."

And again Tails dismissed the apology. "I guess it just never occurred to me. I thought that Eggman – excuse me, Doctor Robotnik," he clarified when the professor gave him a quizzical look, "– was the only human here. I should have done my research, but really, I just never thought about it."

"Hardly a problem, young man, hardly a problem. Hmm, I noticed you called us 'human' – I doubt Ivo would have been forthcoming, and it doesn't sound as if you met any of the others. Where did you learn then name then?"

_Others?_ And Professor Pickle had called Eggman "Ivo?" Just what was going on here? "Uh, yeah, I visited Earth about nine months ago. The time difference wasn't all that clear, but Chris came back six months later and said he was six _years_ older, so I guess…." He trailed off awkwardly. The professor was looking misty-eyed under his massive brows.

"Earth…." Professor Pickle just stood there repeating the word, savoring every syllable. "So _that's_ why you haven't been returning my mail." The old man looked so crestfallen Tails automatically gave him a tail-pat. To think he was worried about Sonic leaving _him_ behind when he had done the same to all his other acquaintances – twice now, too! "You know, I'm not certain how we all got here. I knew of Gerald Robotnik's work, so I recognized his grandson Ivo the moment I saw him here, but aside from Old Man Regis none of the others were anywhere near me when I was brought here."

Tails sat down with a thump, aimlessly winding his tails in the dust. Professor Lord Regis of Soleanna was human too? Had the locals come up with _any_ of the major scientific breakthroughs in the last decade? "So, um, what are you doing _here_ then?" he asked finally as he stood back up. Anything to drag the conversation to a less bizarre topic.

"Well, I've been meaning to visit the library here since hostilities began. Before that, actually; I wanted to see if the sudden tree growth had any history behind it." Tails groaned.

"Long story, Professor." _Very_ long story, and one he'd rather not tell unless he had to.

Professor Pickle cocked an eyebrow. "I take it you were involved somehow?" Tails nodded and folded his arms over his chest, hoping the professor wouldn't push the issue. "You'll have to fill me in later then, Miles. I'd love to swap stories over cucumber sandwiches sometime." Tails smiled. Ella had prepared those for some visiting dignitary once or twice and he had immediately understood what his longtime pen pal had seen in them.

"That would be nice, wouldn't it, Professor?" The old man murmured agreement. "So, ah, would you like to get out of the sun somewhere?" He had been so hot from embarrassment he had momentarily forgotten the weather, but it was getting ever more uncomfortable and Professor Pickle had to be even worse off under all those clothes.

"Good thinking, Miles. I could have stood out here talking all day without someone to remind me." Tails devoutly hoped that wasn't true, for the professor's sake. "There's a decent tea corner not far from here, if you'd like."

"That would be great, thanks!" Tails hadn't realized just how dry his throat had gotten, although the amount of water he had gulped out of the showerhead earlier should have tipped him off. He sorted through his tail fluff – Sonic's screwdriver was there, of course, he'd never leave home without it – but he came up empty on cash. "Uh, on second thought, I –"

Professor Pickle had been watching with amused interest. "Don't worry over payment, Miles my boy. I'd be happy to treat you, and it'll be a much more civilized space for us to talk. Follow me." The man set a brisk pace considering his clearly advanced age, and Tails marveled at how fit all the elderly humans he had met seemed to keep themselves. After one final glare at the ever-hotter sun he ambled off after the professor.

* * *

The beaded screens in the tea shop gave what was probably the first shade Tails had seen since waking up, and creaking fans kept the air from getting too stale. The professor's mug of black tea had been empty almost as soon as it had been delivered, but it still flavored the air around him. It couldn't quite cut through the smell of mint from Tails's own blend, though, and the fox was completely unashamed to have squealed with joy when he saw mint _anything_ on the menu. It had quite possibly been years since he had gotten a mint hardcandy, and he still distinctly remembered the first one Sonic had given him at that hotel outside Mobitropolis five years ago. "This was a wonderful idea, Professor. Thanks!" Even though the tea was steaming the flavor still managed to cool him off, and he crossed his arms behind his head as he sagged into his fabric stool.

"Now, Miles, you were talking about those trees?" Professor Pickle certainly didn't believe in wasting time.

Tails sighed. "I'd really rather not, Professor." He took a much hastier gulp of tea than the brew deserved to stave of nausea. That footage of one of the resistance groups Shadow had shared with them had put the entire ship off of solid food for a week. And then, of course, there was Cosmo.

"But Miles, if you can explain how trees larger than most automobiles can suddenly grow to full size out of solid rock – some even out of _lava flows_ – and then shrink back to acorns just as quickly, then surely you owe it to the scientific community to –"

"No!" Tails knew he sounded like a petulant child, but he wasn't ready to talk about Forestation or the Metarex's near triumph just yet. But then again…"Hold on, did you way the trees went back to being acorns afterwards?" His voice was still shrill, but now it was rising out of hope instead of pain. "Could you tell me more about that?"

The professor thought for a moment. "I'm afraid not. Again, many of them were in places no plants had any business being, and we've yet to identify the species. We can't even tell if the seeds are still fertile at this point. Why are you so eager to know?"

"I'd, ah, rather not talk about that either. Let's just say that those might be more than just trees after all and leave it at that until I'm ready."

"If you're sure, Miles." Professor Pickle was audibly disappointed, but for once Tails had no urge to change his mind. There was too much he wanted to forget, and he wouldn't be able to do that if people asked him to remember. "Well then," he went on briskly as if the conversation had never taken that last turn. "Perhaps I can share my own research with you instead."

Tails was about to agree when someone else caught his eye. "Over here, Sonic," he called out, waving his arms enthusiastically. The hedgehog had barely gotten past the threshold, and as soon as his eyesight adjusted he adopted the same disbelieving expression Tails was sure _he_ had worn upon meeting the professor. "It's fine, don't worry." He turned back to Professor Pickle. "That's Sonic," he explained rather superfluously. "I know you've always wanted to meet him, so…." Tails started to stand up but the professor caught onto his arm.

"No reason for you to leave, Miles. I have a feeling you'll be more receptive to what I've got to say." Tails frowned but sat back down. After all, the professor was right, and being right was his job.

"Who's this, Tails?" Sonic's tone was more guarded than Tails was used to. In fact, he almost sounded like Knuckles, although Tails wasn't foolish enough to say that out loud after the last few days.

"This is Professor Pickle," he said instead. "You know, the person I've been writing to ever since I got the workshop? I guess neither of us knew he was another human." Tails chuckled nervously. Great, the conversation had looped back around.

"I guess not," Sonic said, his voice much lighter. He dragged a stool over from nearby and flopped down onto it. "Well then, Professor, if Tails thinks you're all right then you probably are. So, what'd I miss?"

"Not much," Tails replied. "I was just getting used to, well, him." There wasn't really any polite way to say that, was there? "He asked me a few questions about our trip, and he was about to tell me what he's been checking out here." The fox frowned suddenly. "Speaking of which, how did you find me?"

"Oh, I just saw a nice shady store and popped in for a minute. It's getting kinda rough out there."

"Make sure you get plenty to drink," Tails automatically reminded him, and Sonic chuckled.

"That's what I'm here for, little bro. Well, don't let me stop you, prof. Go ahead and fill Tails in while I figure out how much of their stock I'm going to go through." With that he was upright again, jogging off in pursuit of a menu and a clerk, and Tails could only shrug.

"He doesn't sit still for long," he said by way of explanation, and the professor snorted.

"I'm sure. Anyway, as I was saying, I came here to learn more about this world's history. My university has quite the library itself, of course, but it can be a little too much to go through all by myself these days. This city, though; it has a greater concentration of historical sources than anywhere else on the face of the planet from what I can tell. Old writings on philosophy, politics, poetry, and everything else a man could want to understand why society crumbled even faster than the planet did."

Tails was sitting as much on his tails as on the stool now, the smooth tile feeling wonderful even against the abrasions. "Go on." He'd never paid any attention to that sort of thing, but now he couldn't help himself. After all, it was Professor Pickle talking.

"Well, I'm still wading through the materials, but it seems like your Acorn Kingdom was the key. Even at Ivo's height it was still the greatest political power around, and it's been that way for centuries."

"Okay, Professor, even _I_ knew that much. So what happened?"

"Well, I'm not yet certain why but Acorn was the center of the die-offs that happened just after Sonic and Ivo vanished from the news again."

"Yeah, the Metarex stole a Planet Egg from us. They ripped it out of the ground maybe three miles from my workshop." Tails only realized after he had said it just how bizarre that sentence must have sounded to anyone not in the know. Great, now he'd be _forced_ to go into detail. "I'll explain later. Go on."

"I see there _was_ a reason. Well, once the problem hit the other countries they started looking at who still had fertile land. Acorn it was, even with everything wilting around it, and their reasoning only looked stronger when everything started growing back right after Mobitropolis and the castle fell."

Tails rocked back in his chair and thought for a moment, but Sonic got back with a tall glass in hand before he could answer. "No, that was us getting back." The hedgehog frowned in a way even Tails couldn't quite understand. "So Downunda's attacking us because they think fighting is what saved the planet?" The frown turned into a harsh laugh. Sonic really _was_ channeling Knuckles today. "Well, they're half right. It's just their targeting's all wrong."

The professor raised both eyebrows this time. "I see there's a lot that you two know that I could stand to learn. Unfortunately I need to be back to my own studies for now, but feel free to come by and talk to me again soon." The old man stood up, leaning heavily on Sonic to do so, and gave them both a regal nod as he ducked back out into the sun.

After a moment Sonic cleared his throat. "I, ah, found you a doctor, buddy. Appointment's tomorrow – they wanted to go ahead today but I figured you'd hate me if I butted in ahead of someone else."

"Great," Tails said without even looking at his big brother.

Sonic looked him over yet again. "You all right, bud? Normally you start whipping those tails around when I try to set you up with a doctor."

"That's it? That's really it?" Tails looked as blank as if he had just taken another head wound. "Cosmo _died_ to bring that rock home and these people decide it's just an even better reason to fight each other?"

"You're taking this personally, aren't you, Tails?" Sonic asked. His voice said he'd made a connection he really didn't want to be right about.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." It had been a long time since Tails had felt this determined over something. "You know what, I figure once we've gotten everyone safely out of the wreck I'm gonna have a nice talk with a few people. Straighten things out." His hands had clenched into fists and he forced himself to breathe. Slowly he started relaxing again, and he reached for another sip of his tea. That settled him down the rest of the way. "It's something I need to do."

"In that case, big guy, I'm with you. Just let me know what you need." Sonic's worry had vanished as quickly as it had come, and in its place he seemed to be catching the fox's inspiration.

"Tomorrow, though. We've got things to do first. Um, you _didn't_ find a doctor, right?"

Sonic and Tails looked at one another slowly, then, in unison, buried their heads in their hands.

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, this was a very exposition-heavy chapter. Professorial characters tend to do that to me. Please let me know if it was too much exposition - or even too much information even if the delivery was tolerable. Or, for that matter, if there was too _little_ information - this is a skill I really need to develop if I want to write speculative fiction down the road, and I'm not at all confident in my ability to handle it effectively just yet. The same goes for Tails's angst, too, since I need to not only keep it low enough that he's still sympathetic rather than whiny but also leave enough of it unexplored for later chapters to trigger.


	7. Artifice

One waiting room was very much like another, Tails reflected, although unlike even their hotel this place was at least air-conditioned. His tails weren't doing much to pad the plastic seats, and the blue tiles and white lighting seemed more likely to cause pain than relieve it – in fact, this was possibly the first building in the city that didn't have stained glass windows and lights, which would probably have given him a headache from the contrast. On the plus side he probably wouldn't be waiting here for much longer, but then again he wasn't so sure that _was_ a plus. He threaded his tailtips through his fingers. "Sonic, do you think they're going to need blood?"

Sonic reached over and ruffled his bangs. "Nah. There won't be a shot either. I bet they just make sure your brain's still on, patch up your tails, and get us back out there." Tails kicked his heels under the chair. Earth's doctors hadn't been all that restrained when they first met him, and he had hacked their cameras while they were working on Cream and Cheese. Give him an ice pack and some gauze any day!

"Tails, if this is about those jerks back in your hometown –" Tails surprised them both by suddenly balling up both fists and jerking back against the chair.

"No!" He panted for a minute while he sifted through his thoughts. He had shrugged off Sonic's arm twice before he spoke again, by which time he desperately wished he hadn't. Sonic standing there cross-armed giving him a level look was almost more than he could handle. "I'm sorry, Sonic. You've got to think I'm a total wreck right now."

Sonic shook his head energetically. "I never liked needles either. If I had realized that gang back around Emerald Hill had found some, they'd still be recovering today." He laughed, but it started off forced and quickly trailed off altogether. "Same goes for those human scientists who got Cream and Cheese. Hey, I mean, we took care of them together, right?" He spread his arms wide, practically begging Tails to laugh with him this time, but the fox just couldn't feel it.

"Seriously, Sonic," he said instead. He could manage a sheepish grin but that was as far as it was going to go. "I was up all night because I was scared of the dark. I wore _grooves_ into my tails because I kept looking for things that didn't even exist. Even then, you still had to rescue me when the sandstorm came. And we were only there in the first place because I keep randomly falling asleep. Honestly, Sonic, I've really got to be getting on your nerves these days." He slapped his face. "And moping about it out loud isn't helping, is it?" he said in a voice of dawning comprehension.

"Hey, it's helping _me_," Sonic said. "About the ghosts thing – how many weird monsters have we run into over the years? Remember Chaos? Or that, er, thing at the castle that kept interrupting Mrs. Thorndyke's movie?" Tails was pretty sure he had repressed that memory. Being swallowed by something that didn't even have a corporeal form was just too irrational for him to even bother thinking about, and plus it had been equal parts disgusting and terrifying. "Or, since we're talking about that incident, did I ever tell you about the stories Amy wrote afterwards?" Tails winced. "She planted me in some Shamari fairy tale and paired me up with a magical woman. I'm sure she meant that to be her, since she barely had a part in the rest of it." Sonic had to be right; subtlety and restraint were not among Amy's virtues. The hedgehog shivered. "If you really did see a critter out of those books, I for one would have been really glad for the warning."

Tails giggled at that, and both of them relaxed immensely as they realized he had. "You know, I guess I was more worried about scorpions and stuff by the time you woke up anyway."

Sonic shot him a thumbs-up. "Good catch. I hadn't even thought of those."

The fox rubbed the back of his head again. "Yeah, that's what happens when I'm awake for too long. I start thinking up all the ways things can go wrong." He scrunched himself up in the chair and wrapped his tails around his legs, good mood shriveling away. "And they're never the ways it does."

Sonic patted Tails's shoulder. "You know, if we weren't stuck in here I'd drag you out on a run. You've got way too much time on your hands if you can come up with all this stuff."

"Funny you should put it that way." Tails gave Sonic a sideways glance. "I've been thinking a lot of it over while I'm trying to sleep."

"'Trying?'" Sonic snorted. "Well, that explains a lot. Come on, Tails, you've been indoors for too long; you need to get flying again. Burn off some energy."

That was Sonic's answer to everything, but it seemed to be true too. After all, aside from his fainting spells he'd slept better these past two nights than he probably had since they got back from space.

"Miles Prower?" the cat receptionist called from behind her desk. "We're ready for you now."

The two stood up immediately, and Tails started off down the hall with a smile, but was back to nervous tail-winding before he had even reached the first door. "And, uh, you're _sure_ there won't be any needles, right, Sonic?"

* * *

"Pleased to meet you, Master Prower," the doctor said as soon as he opened the office door. "Oh, and Sonic the Hedgehog as well? I knew you had made the appointment but I didn't expect you to come along." The desert fox practically tripped over himself shaking hands with the duo. "Our town mostly gets overlooked, and I never thought I'd get the chance to see you both at once." His voice had climbed even higher than Tails's, and Sonic quirked an eyebrow at his little brother.

"Great to meet you too, Doctor, ah…" Tails couldn't quite make out the other fox's nametag through his exuberant motions.

"Constantine. Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you would be here, Sonic," the doctor babbled on, barely sparing his actual patient a second glance. "This complicates things, doesn't it? I'm sure you've run into this at other hospitals, but, ah, as you aren't Prower's parent or guardian…."

Sonic groaned. "You'll still treat him, though." It could have been a question. It wasn't.

"Of course I will!" Doctor Constantine drew himself up in a momentary huff before going back to arm-flailing enthusiasm. "We aren't the Acorn Zones here. Oh, you live there most of the time. Ah, no offense."

"Don't worry," Tails told him flatly. "They deserve all the offense you can come up with."

The doctor had rolled back into his speech before Tails was even halfway through snarking. "No, the problem is privacy. I'm not allowed to disclose my patients' information to anyone not legally connected to them."

Sonic kept his tone light but Tails could hear his teeth grinding together. "And if he's fine with me hearing it?"

The other fox shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but that doesn't change anything. I'd understand, of course, but the law is very straightforward." _For once_, Tails thought, and he swore Sonic muttered the same thing. "Prower there is a minor and thus cannot legally consent without his parent or guardian present. It can be annoying, I'm sure, but I hope you'll understand." He was actually wringing his hands in front of him now in what had to be one of the most desperate displays Tails had seen in quite some time. He practically made _Vector_ look confident.

"I don't want to cause any extra trouble for you, Doctor," Tails said. Sonic shifted next to him.

"Okay, little bro, it's your call. If something goes wrong, or if you just want me there with you, give a shout." The hedgehog gave the unfortunate doctor a withering glare. "Or do you really think you can keep me out if Tails really needs me?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Doctor Constantine squeaked. He had passed Tails's normal register long ago and was now pushing _Cream_'s vocal boundaries.

"Ease up, Sonic." Tails held out his palms placatingly. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Right, Doctor?"

"Oh, yes, of course," the other fox slurred in his hurry to get the words out. "Tails should be out in well under half an hour." With what was probably his first genuine smile of the encounter, he held open the office door and ushered Tails inside. "Let's get started then, shall we?"

The doctor had been right, and he stripped off his outer pair of gloves and work jumpsuit in what the clock over his head said had been twenty minutes. "See, Tails, no needles. It wasn't so bad, was it?" Tails marveled at how much more relaxed Doctor Constantine had grown since he started the checkup – probably once he had gotten over the shock of meeting Sonic, really.

The hedgehog went from napping on a chair to on his feet in half a second when the two foxes left their room. "Tails, you all right?"

The doctor chuckled, still secure in his professional persona. "Oh, he's fine. I patched up the friction burns and put some ointment on the ear – I don't think I can tell you enough how amazed I am you didn't even notice; ear injuries are _painful_," he added to Tails. "As for your other concerns, well…."

"He couldn't find anything wrong," Tails filled in for him when he stalled out. "My reflexes checked out," _I hate that little hammer, but at least _he_ only used it on the right places_, "and so did my coordination. I guess I've just been really tired or something."

"I wish I could have been more thorough, but I'm afraid I just don't have the skill or equipment to properly investigate concussions. Actually, I've finally scraped together the funds to order an imager, so if you're still having these problems in a week or so feel free to come back and see me."

Sonic cocked his head at Tails for a moment before going back to his usual expression. "Told you he'd say you were fine."

"Excuse me, but Tails also said there were others in need of assistance. Something about a plane crash?" The doctor was wringing his hands again, but it was in a much less plaintive fashion. "I'd be happy to look everyone over but we've only got a handful of helicopters and no real airport."

"So you need me to run them over here one by one?" Sonic asked. Even now he was slipping sardonicism into his voice.

"Sonic! I'm sure he doesn't mean it that way."

But Doctor Constantine just laughed, in a remarkable shift from the last time Sonic had challenged him. "That's probably about the fastest I can process them considering I don't really have a staff here. But no, I was going to suggest you visit our councilor over at City Hall." He rattled off a string of directions that Tails hoped Sonic had caught. "She can sign off on a rescue mission from there, and I'm sure if you mention my name she'll be a little happier to work with you."

"Thanks, Doctor. You've been a big help." Tails waved goodbye before Sonic could say anything else and half-dragged his big brother back into the midday glare.

"What is _with_ you?" he growled at the hedgehog once they were safely outside.

Sonic just shrugged, to Tails's irritation. "I know how you get around hospitals – heck, you reminded me right before you went in. I just wanted to make sure he knew where we all stood, keep you safe."

Tails huffed. "Come on, Sonic, you were just being mean. You kept doing it even after I got back out!"

"Look, I just don't trust doctors after what happened on Earth, that's all," Sonic answered after a brief pause. Even Tails could tell he was holding things back, but he wasn't going to press the issue just now. The last thing he wanted to do was make Sonic angry with him, and he had already come dangerously close twice since getting to the city. They instead continued in awkward silence towards the large domed building that was most likely the town hall.

It wasn't that easy, of course. After their sixth dead end and Sonic's fiftieth annoyed sigh Tails gave in and scooped the hedgehog up. The stone and mud brick of the buildings fell away beneath them quickly and the central dome loomed large before them in a twentieth the time it had taken them to give up getting there on foot. "I'm going to set us down on the stars, Sonic." The hedgehog nodded in understanding and braced himself as Tails changed course. Yeesh, it was hot up here, and it didn't seem like there was a sea breeze after all. The fox was already too busy sweating to enjoy the flight, but at least they were nearly inside and in the shade again. He could hardly wait.

* * *

"Um, Sonic, I'm not sure we're supposed to be in here." Tails was swallowing and tossing his tails, and his voice was hushed to barely above a whisper. The building was very imposing on the inside, all archways and dark waxed wood, and not even the air conditioning could freshen the stagnant air. The lights were probably as decorative as the ones everywhere else in the city, except the dark materials drank up all the colors they might have cast. It seemed more like a castle than a government building, not that he had seen more than one or two of either up close, and he had gone from looking forward to putting together the rescue to dreading their meeting.

"Hey, if you want to wait outside and let me handle this, I will."

"No!" Tails surprised himself with his vehemence. "No, it's my responsibility. It's just, I, well…." He never finished the thought, just pressed himself practically into Sonic's quills and kept going. _One foot in front of the other_.

It wasn't much longer before he ran nose-first into those quills. He caught himself on his tails, hissing as the bandages rubbed against the bare skin, and rubbed at his newest injury while Sonic fought down laughter. "Okay, bud, if you're up for this, then go ahead. I'm pretty sure this is our door." Considering the two armed guards flanking it, Tails had to agree with him. Padded green jackets that had to be murder in this kind of heat covered their fur, making Tails itch sympathetically, and their boots and gloves were rigid and paneled. He couldn't tell what species either of them was beneath the riot visors, all of which had to be completely unnecessary. They weren't moving to block the way though, which was encouraging, but the fox still had to force himself towards the door. In fact, if he hadn't felt Sonic's eyes on him he would probably have backed down before getting there, but he wasn't about to let his big brother down again! Or all the people on the ship, who ought to be more important but right now weren't.

After two tries he finally knocked on the polished door, and it opened almost instantly. The guards pivoted behind Tails and Sonic as they entered, but Tails was much more focused on the jackal who had opened the door. Wonderful, it _had_ to be a jackal. As if he hadn't had enough trouble with them back around Emerald Hill. He kicked himself almost as soon as he had thought that – he had no reason to think this woman would be a bully, and besides, Sonic was here with him.

"A pleasure, Mister Sonic, Master Prower." She dropped a quick bow before returning to her cluttered desk. Her silvered old fur was suddenly luminescent in the light from her stained-glass lamp. "We only see a few guests here anymore, and rarely any as famous as you two. To what do I owe the honor?"

"Actually, uh, I kind of crashed my airship into the river not that far from here. We were actually going to Spagonia but it went out of control." Tails flushed red as he admitted it.

"Oh." The jackal looked almost as crestfallen as Professor Pickle had. "I thought you had actually come here to visit us."

Tails reached out to her, even though he was nowhere near close enough for contact. "No, no, I'm actually sort of glad we landed where we did. Your people have been really friendly. I'm actually surprised you don't get more visitors."

She sighed. "No. It's just historians from the universities north of here most of the time, and the Shamari government lets them travel for free. We've been paying our taxes in dates and blown glass since before I was appointed."

Tails frowned at her. "I don't understand. Are those the only things you have out here?"

"Yes." Well, at least she was straightforward. "We have next to no wood or metal for building, and whoever founded this city was either desperate or a blithering idiot since we're miles from the river. Half the library is plans for expanding outside the walls to the delta."

Tails was curious now. "But you said you've got dates, and I've already sampled a few other fruits at the hotel and the tea store. How come you've still got those if you don't have any water?"

Another sigh. "The farms are reliant on irrigation trenches. They're dry half the year and the other half the walls keep breaking down, but it's kept us afloat."

"Wow." Tails pursed his lips in a silent whistle. "Is there anything I could do to help?" Sonic fidgeted behind him, but he hadn't forgotten why they were there.

"I couldn't make you stay." The jackal shook her head slowly, and Tails could feel the resignation oozing off of her. "I'm sure you have much more urgent things to do."

"Well, actually, there's just one." This felt like the best time to ask. "There were thirty or so other people back on the Blue Typhoon when it went down, and if that desert gave me and Sonic a hard time I don't think they'd be able to make it. If I look around and see what I can do for your city could you get them out?"

The jackal's head snapped back up, her eyes flashing. "Why didn't you say that at first, Prower? I'd have helped you for free, but if you want to do something for us then who am I to stop you?"

Tails cocked his head. "Aren't you worried about one of the armies coming after you?" He hadn't really seen any signs of the war here yet, but Downunda could wipe this place off the map in an afternoon if they had a reason to.

She rolled her eyes. "We don't have anything they'll want out here, and Shamar's stayed out of this idiot war. We've got our own problems to deal with. No, we're sitting on a few years of helicopter fuel stipends since we've never had a reason to use it, and I'll burn it all if it means getting your friends into town!" She stepped out from behind her desk and shook Tails's hand fervently. "If there's anything you think you'll need from this 'Blue Typhoon' then make a list and I'll make sure the crews get it for you."

"That's very kind of you," Tails said as he tried to retrieve his hand. "Um, you said you produced glass here. Do you have any big sheets, panes, that sort of thing?" He already had a few ideas on what he could do in return. They'd needed to grow their own food in his workshop, after all, and if he could get crops to survive under a mountain or on a refurbished wreck he'd probably have the same luck in the desert. In fact, he wouldn't even have to provide the light for them out here.

She frowned in thought for a moment. "Well, our glassblowers are supposed to be one of the main attractions around here. They're out behind the building, near the library." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder while holding onto Tails's hand with the other. "No promises, though."

"That'll be great, thanks! I'll take a look around there and then make that list for you." Finally, something Tails was good at. "Um, may we go?"

"Of course, don't let me keep you. Except for one thing – where're your friends again?" She let go of his hand and smiled crookedly.

"Oh! Um, the ship's just barely in front of a waterfall at the end of a canyon southwest of here. Does that help?" She nodded.

"That should be good enough; at least, I doubt the pilots can miss it. Thank you for your help, Master Prower." She shook his hand one last time before crossing back to her desk. Tails and Sonic took that as their cue to leave and ducked back out of the room past the attentive guards.

"See, big guy, you handled that just fine." Sonic was grinning like an idiot and Tails felt a genuine glow of pride at his praise. "Didn't need me in there at all." Tails laughed with him as they meandered through the no-longer-so-threatening hall towards what he hoped was the back door.

* * *

Somehow the weather wasn't harsh enough for these people, Tails realized as he walked into another market square and promptly had his breath punched out of his lungs by a volcanic blast of hot air. This had to be the glassworks, because he couldn't think of any other profession that would demand this level of outdoor heat at this time of day. All right, maybe metalsmithing would, but that was more his thing than theirs judging from the utter lack of ironwork in this town. At least he was in the right place now, and he took a series of deep breaths to stave off oxygen starvation as he started to look around. Normally helicopter rotors were annoying – at least, when he wasn't flying them – but right now the fleeting shadows and distant breeze from the passing rescue flight were positively blissful.

An old skunk was setting down a piece of finished glass in a nearby storefront and Tails walked purposefully towards him. This poor man was as greyed as the jackal had been and clearly had some back problems, but Tails could see that he had been Geoffrey's size or more in his prime. The fox wondered what had happened to the Downunda skunk – he would have had to have gotten up really early to completely shake Sonic like that. But he was sure that Geoffrey would be fine, and right now he had a greenhouse to assemble.

"Excuse me!" He broke into a trot, which actually seemed to help with the pain of breathing. If nothing else, the way his tails streamed out behind him gave the plaza some much-needed airflow. "Excuse me, sir!"

The skunk nearly fumbled the blue-stained vase he had been placing on the desk as Tails's waving arms caught his eye. He righted the glasswork and waved back until Tails had ducked under his awning. "I haven't seen a customer in years, little one." His voice was coarse and harsh with grit, a grinding contrast to the other old men Tails had met. "What brings you by?"

"You've got some really beautiful work here, sir," Tails said as he tried not to slobber over the multicolored bottles. "I'm, um, not sure if this is the right place and I hope it's not out of line to ask, but do you have any, just, plain clear pane glass?" He stumbled over the words in his efforts to avoid insulting the artisan. Fortunately, the skunk just threw his head back and laughed.

"Well, it's been some time since I've had an order for simple glass – you might have noticed that most of the lights and windows here are decorative?" Tails nodded. "Luckily, that means that the last batch I made should still be lying around. I'll check with my assistant," the skunk looked over his shoulder for a moment, "and see if we can fill your order. If not, he might know where else we can send you."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

The skunk started to leave, then spun back on his heel with surprising agility. "If you don't mind, what'll you need this for?"

Tails thought for a moment. "Um, could you bundle it all up for me, like with rope or something? I think I'm building a greenhouse and I'll need to fly it over by the coast. I want to see if my idea's going to work."

The glassblower's eyes lit up. "I see." He closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "I _do_ see. All right, Tails, I'll do what I can for you."

It was always a little creepy to be recognized by random strangers, but Tails supposed he should feel grateful for the fame instead of just disturbed. He sighed. That wasn't important right now – he had to go find Sonic and figure out where to start.

* * *

"This was your idea, remember?" Sonic said as Tails set the glass down for the dozenth time. The fox was too busy panting, not that he would have dignified that with a reply to begin with. He hadn't really expected the glass to be as thick or as heavy as it was – not entirely surprising, since it had come from six or seven different sources in the end – and even with Sonic lifting one end Tails was having a hard time staying aloft with his half of the bundle. Still, he caught his breath once again and twirled his tails, fanning sand out beneath him. Some of the spray caught at the abraded surfaces, but the doctor's treatment was clearly doing its job. What could quite easily have been roaring pain was barely an itch, which only left him with his out-of-shape lungs to worry about.

"You're _sure_ there's some legitimate dirt between here and the ocean, right?" This wasn't going to do a single bit of good if there wasn't any theoretically fertile ground, and with the sun already almost gone he couldn't spot any differences from here.

Sonic just looked at him with that inevitable grin. "Course I'm sure. Come on, would I lie to you?" No, of course he wouldn't, and now Tails felt his cheeks burn just for considering that. He shot forward with enough force to nearly yank the glass out of Sonic's hands, and after a short squawk the hedgehog took off after him.

That spurt of humiliation-fueled energy carried Tails all the way until Sonic came to a halt and jerked the glass out of his hands. The fox dove for the ground and managed to place himself between it and the hard earth, and as it clobbered him he felt hard-packed dirt beneath him. Sonic had indeed known what he was talking about, and despite his bruised ribs and wheezing lungs Tails felt a strong sense of triumph. Now to make sure the rest of this was going to work. As the stars twinkled out of his eyes he saw the dust settle into the trench he and Sonic had carved into the sand behind them, and he grinned despite himself. Perfect.

"Hey, Sonic, could you run straight from here to the sea and back a couple of times for me?"

"Just 'to' the sea, right, not 'into?' Sure thing." Sonic blurred to full speed, leaving behind a laughing Tails and a thick cloud of disturbed sand. All right, now to get this all laid out. Tails slid out from under the pile of glass and undid the cords that held it together. Ten pieces in all, all but one roughly the same size – which was to say twice his height wide and _three_ times his height tall. This was going to be…awkward.

With great effort he edged the pieces into a rough mockup of where they would actually lie, arranged in three rows with only a bare minimum of space between each piece and the smaller tenth bit set up as a lid on the seaward side – which had nearly tripped Sonic up on one of his return trips. He'd have to bring the walls upright, of course, but since he could fly that wouldn't be too bad. The other three pieces went lengthwise between those walls, and since they'd have to come _straight_ up they were going to give him fits. Maybe if they could spare one of the helicopters to help him get his parts out here he could get them to lift it while he locked the glass into pace, but he didn't want to slow up the rescue efforts for something he could do himself. Eventually.

Sonic skidded to a stop, sending a sheet of sand and gravel across the glass, and Tails glowered at him for a moment. To be fair it was getting dark fast, so the hedgehog probably couldn't have even seen the transparent sheets, and it wasn't like he had damaged anything. The glower turned into a grin. "I'm going to need some parts from the ship for this next bit. You want to go back to town and wait on the helicopters, see how everyone's doing?" Sonic just nodded. It wasn't like Tails needed to _ask_ him to go for another run!

At least with the channel they had already carved the return trip went quickly. The jackal councilor met them practically at the gate. "How is your project coming?" She was almost breathless with anticipation.

"Well, I've got the glass I need. I'm going to get a couple of spare pumps and some piping out of the Blue Typhoon and see if I can track down one of my cans of cement spread." He had a few other ideas on ways to improve the design, but for now he was going with a structure he could hammer together overnight. "What about yours?"

"Well, we've gotten two flights done but these aren't really transport helicopters. They only fit three passengers each, and if you're going to scavenge that'll take one of them out of that flight."

"Is everyone all right?" For the first time she looked uncomfortable, and it wasn't just the shifting shadows from the multicolored lampshades.

"Yes, of course they are," she answered a bit too quickly. "The doctor's not quite ready to see them all yet but he'll be on it first thing in the morning. He said he doesn't want to make mistakes because he's tired." And here he had thought _he_ talked fast when he was nervous. That said, if someone on the ship has gotten sick or hurt worse than they had let on – and it wasn't like he would have had a chance to notice while he was there – he would just trust Doctor Constantine to handle the situation. Tails certainly wasn't much of a medic, an oversight he'd have to get around to correcting one of these days. Of course, if there _was_ something wrong he was responsible, and he couldn't get the image of Cream and her badly bent ear out of his mind.

Sonic was shifting around anxiously behind him, and Tails imagined the same thoughts were running through his brother's head. "Could we see the people you've brought back, please?"

"No!" The jackal's outburst was as surprising as it was emphatic, and she immediately looked repentant. "I mean," she shuddered, "I don't think that's advisable right now. Let the doctor handle things."

Well, that didn't fill Tails with joy, but if Doctor Constantine felt comfortable sleeping before getting to work it couldn't be all that serious either. Probably just a nasty bruise or set of cuts, then, or maybe something to do with Cream's poor ear.

"Okay then," he said after a moment. "I'd like to see them as soon as I get the chance, but I think I should keep working on your greenhouse first."

"Greenhouse?" Her ears perked up. "So that's what you needed the glass for. But where're you going to get the water for it?"

"The ocean, of course. That's what the pipes are for." Tails was much happier now that he was on familiar ground. "We can let it evaporate under the glass, and that'll make the air humid inside. Plus, the sea breezes should blow directly through the front and kick that air out behind, and that'll get at least a bit of water into the soil around it too. I'm kind of proud of the idea myself." Okay, it could use some serious refinements, but a few of these might really make a difference and he could come back later once he had a chance to give the design more thought.

The jackal grinned, and after a moment Tails realized that was her equivalent of pursing her lips in thought. Strange creatures. "I'm surprised none of us ever thought of that. Go ahead and take over one of the helis if you need it, Master Prower, and I'll wait for word of your success."

Tails nodded firmly, and reached behind him to grab the fidgeting Sonic and frogmarch him towards the helipad.

* * *

Tails sighed in relief as he tumbled into one of the spare parts storage rooms aboard the Blue Typhoon. Vanilla and Cream were already out, the Chaotix were nowhere to be seen – not all that surprising, considering their personalities – and it didn't look like anyone else had forgiven him for crashing them into a foreign canyon, fainting on the table, and then disappearing for two days. It was much, much more comfortable down here in the grease and the dark, away from accusing eyes.

"Chao!" Well, not _all_ eyes were accusing.

"Cheese!" Tails answered with a relieved chuckle. Then his eyes narrowed. "Wait, why aren't you with Cream?" Come to think of it, where had the chao been all during the crash? Cream had asked her blobby blue friend to stay behind when she followed Tails to the bridge, but he hadn't seen Cheese even after they got back into the main hull. Had the poor creature been stuck down here in the hold all this time? He certainly looked distressed.

"Chao, chao!" The look of absolute distress on Cheese's face clashed horrifically with his permasmiling features, and Tails shivered uncontrollably. The last time he had seen chao look like that was during Perfect Chaos's rampage, and that had leveled an entire city – and from what Sonic and Knuckles had told him, eradicated an entire _civilization_ the time before that. He felt he was excusably spooked to see it again now.

"Did something happen to Cream?" Tails had his hands out placatingly, even though he doubted Cheese would be the one to attack him. If anything was going to, of course.

"_Chao_!" The chao's squeal left Tails with a splitting headache not reduced in the least by the ringing in both his ears and the ship. He sighed, wishing not for the first time that he could understand chao and their body language, and started rummaging for the parts he needed.

"It'll be okay, Cheese. I'm doing these people a favor and they'll look after Cream for us. She'll be fine." His voice was low and soothing, which Cream had showed him worked wonders on chao, and hesitantly Cheese floated over to him. Then, suddenly, the chao gripped Tails's cheek fur in two rubbery fists and tugged playfully. It hurt a little, but it was a welcome relief from the headache, and for a few moments Tails lost himself in play with the little blue creature.

The parts he needed were all conveniently piled – for once, his disorganization had worked in his favor – and a dozen trips and many more awkward glances later he had loaded one of the helicopters down with a quarter-mile of piping, a metal tray, and most importantly two pumps he had modified with little windmills to keep them powered. The crew had agreed to take him and the parts directly to the build site, and Sonic inevitably had agreed to race them both. Armed personally with a bucket of glass cement and a fistful of putty knives, Tails belted himself into the helicopter and waved a surreptitious goodbye to where he had seen Cheese hide after the last trip. He couldn't help but be uneasy despite all of the things that were going well – Cheese never acted that way, and he wasn't about to doubt the chao's instincts after the Perfect Chaos incident on Earth.

Still, the dread had mostly settled down and given way to anticipation as the helicopter settled down on the hard-packed dirt a safe distance from the glass pile. Tails knew it was a safe distance because Sonic was waiting for him, guiding them in with comical arm movements while tapping his foot impatiently. They _had_ challenged him to a race, after all, so what had they expected?

It took nearly half an hour just to pile all of the parts up outside the helicopter, which lifted up almost immediately. "You can head back to town if you want, Sonic," Tails said. "This is more my thing anyway."

Sonic thought for a moment. "Sure thing, bud. I'll be back out in a bit to check on you, make sure you aren't totally forgetting to sleep."

"Like I always do?" Tails chuckled. "I want to get this done while I'm thinking about it."

Sonic laughed along with him. "I'll bring you some tea if you're still up by then. It's mint, right?" Tails nodded gratefully. "Right, see you around, bro."

"Try to keep it tea and not mud!" Tails called at the departing hedgehog before turning back to his parts. Probably best to start with the glass itself, while he still had energy, and then move on to the most distant pipes. Plan in mind, the fox picked out a putty knife and his bucket of cement and fluttered over to the grid of panels, already bracing himself for the work to come. It might be heavy lifting, but he was looking forward to it all the same. It was a wonderful night, with the stars crystalline in the blackened sky and just the right touch of a breeze to cool without chilling.

And after all, this was what he did best.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Tails said with the airiest wave he could manage through the drape of fatigue. At least four empty pots and a well-used mug littered the sands around him, and even after all the tea he was still barely awake. Still, though, he was proud of his work - every last piece of pipe had gone into the channel Sonic had worn down to the sea, and the glass enclosure stood ready to boil the water and funnel it out towards the more arable land. He had even managed to give the thing a bit of a wedge shape, which should make the wind even more useful at keeping the air humid, temperate, and above all flowing.

"Looks good," Sonic replied vaguely. "Very, um, greenhouse-y."

"Ha, ha. No, seriously, do you think it'll actually stand up to a stiff breeze?" The solar-powered pumps were already starting to force seawater up into the deep metal tub, and Tails had prevailed on Sonic to drill a hole into the ground for it, but he wouldn't know if his design had worked until probably midday tomorrow. Still, even if it didn't he could probably refine at least some of the design until it did. He _did_ still have a promise to keep.

"Tails, you took the old wreck we used to play in and turned it into a spaceship. There's no way you had a problem with this thing." Tails was grateful for the vote of confidence, but Sonic would say that, wouldn't he? The fox wished Geoffrey or Eggman were here to give him a tech-literate second opinion. Sonic's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Meet you back in town, big guy?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Sonic, be right there." Tails stretched and gave a massive yawn. Yes, definitely time to head for home. He could gather up his leftovers when he came out to demonstrate tomorrow.

Inevitably Sonic had not just beaten him to the city but vanished completely from sight by the time Tails arrived, but he wasn't concerned. No, he was just going to make his way back to the hotel, get a solid night's sleep and something resembling food, and then –

The first warning he got was the jacketed arm around his throat. The second warning was the cold metal of handcuffs snapping closed around his wrists, and that was a sensation he had hoped he would never run into again after leaving the Emerald Hill Zone behind. Whoever was attacking him had made a crucial mistake, though – they had neglected to bind his tails before trying to march him off, and Tails demonstrated why that was such an error by slamming them hard against what felt like a helmet visor. The pressure vanished from his neck and he wheeled stiffly, balance thrown off by the way his arms were trapped behind his back, to face his assailant. The bare patches on his tails stung from the force of the strike, but that was a secondary concern right now.

It was, to his shock, one of the guards from the town hall. Tails immediately dropped to his knees. "Stay still, I don't know if I hurt your neck with that!" He wasn't about to let the man take him away to who-knew-where, though, so when the guard ignored his advice and pushed himself upright the fox did the same. He doubled over, tails arching over his back in a thoroughly impractical but hopefully intimidating posture, and the guard stumbled back uncertainly. Once he regained his footing they started circling one another, Tails's speed impaired by his poor balance, and the man looked ready to slip around behind him.

The last thing Tails felt before blacking out again was the savage grip of another pair of handcuffs around the base of his tails, and a deep and burning sense of shame.

* * *

Author's Note: This is my longest chapter to date, at least in terms of page count, and I seriously considered splitting it in half to streamline it. Unfortunately, nothing really _happened _in the first half, but at the same time I couldn't afford to cut it (you'll understand why later), so I had to extend it to fit in a little action. And yes, the pace will be picking up substantially from here on - basic exposition is done and the focus can now shift to the war and whatever Eggman is doing behind the scenes.

The greenhouse Tails assembled is a poor man's version of the namesake patent of Seawater Greenhouse Ltd., a company of the United Kingdom. I do not intend to take any credit for the design in either incarnation, and I wish the company success with their work. You can learn more about them, and the professional version of the technology, at their website, seawatergreenhouse dot com.


	8. Deceptions

Tails didn't want to wake up. Sleep was warm and comfortable, floating peacefully across the hours. He never knew what he would wake up to, but from the aches inside and out he could tell it wouldn't be pleasant. He could even feel the cold air on his bare hands and feet, for the third time in as many nights. What had he been _doing_ before bed?

The young fox twitched, scrubbing his face with his tails as he came to, and realized that besides the dirt floor beneath him he couldn't make out a single detail of the room. There were no lights, no windows, not even light under the door, and his tailtips started to throb with bad circulation and what felt like a nasty pair of bruises. Oh, that was right – last night before bed he had been inventing a way to lose a fight without even taking a single hit. He knew Sonic didn't like it when he cried, but if the tears came he knew he wouldn't be able to hold them in. Besides, there were plenty of other reasons for his big brother to be ashamed of him today. Adding one more wasn't going to matter much.

Still drowsy, Tails rocked to his feet and promptly rolled over onto his nose as his arms and tails both refused to move the way he told them to. Right, he had been cuffed in both places, hadn't he? That would explain the bruising too, and his abrasions started to burn again as he thought about them. He twitched onto his side and just lay there for a few minutes, stuck midway between sulking and scheming. Right, he could be sure that the guards hadn't caught Sonic unless the hedgehog had let them. Their first meeting with Shadow had demonstrated that quite plainly, and this town _didn't_ have an army of robots bankrolled by a massive international organization. Tails pursed his lips. Then again, that might not be that far off, because he couldn't think of any other reason for these people to betray him, kidnap his friends, and risk annoying Sonic and Knuckles. It just didn't make sense!

After some twisting and grunting Tails managed to get back on his feet. Mercifully his legs had been left free, and although he was staggering badly he was able to walk if he stayed focused. He kept walking until he could just make out the wall in front of him and turned around, feeling the surfaces and trying to figure out the room. Ironically, he was suddenly grateful for whoever had stripped off his shoes and gloves, because his mechanist's fingers were trained to be sensitive. The floor was coated in or at least made of a soft, velvety layer of dust rather than the chafing grit outside. Large, coarse blocks made up the bulk of the structure, with thin grout lines holding them together. The real giveaway was the door though, a layer of heavy, waxy wood that left the pads of his hands sticky.

So, he was inside the city hall somewhere. There had certainly been enough unlabeled rooms in the building to store kidnapping victims in, but he didn't really get the feeling that this was a regular occurrence. The fox let himself slide down the door to rest on his hands. He and Sonic had barely been able to navigate through this place when everything was peaceful, which meant any rescue would be a long time coming even if Sonic was on his way right now. No, he had already asked too much from Sonic in the last few days. It was time to stand on his own two feet again, time to get some answers. Who knew? Maybe this time he'd be able to get everyone home safely.

The door helped him to stand up again, and he pushed off from it with the safe parts of his tails once he was upright. He grinned almost savagely as he heard a little clink against the wood. The guard had nearly forgotten to bind his tails, and apparently he had overlooked their use as a storage system too. Tails could do quite a bit with a screwdriver, and that noise had just let him know he still had one. He curled and uncurled his tails, gasped as he twisted his shoulders, and fumbled through the thick fur for either end of his beloved tool. He grabbed the familiar plastic handle after a moment with a crow of triumph he only barely remembered to hush, and nearly fumbled it again as he twisted to watch the door. He couldn't hear a thing through it and it was wedged firmly against the ground, so he had no evidence that anyone was coming, but he couldn't get the worry out of his head.

And for that reason he was left choking and clutching his chest where his heart had just leapt when a voice came from over his shoulder. "Do you need help with that?" He _knew _that voice….

"_Espio_?" Tails nearly went over on one ear again as a spun around but a pair of hands reached out and caught him. In this darkness he probably wouldn't have been able to see the chameleon to begin with, but he was quite confident that the Chaotix detective was exercising his natural camouflage anyway. "When did you get in here?"

There was a brief pause. "Before you did, actually." Was it just his imagination, or did the chameleon actually sound embarrassed for some reason? "I was trying to find the others when a soldier threw you into the room and locked us both inside." That would probably be why. "Poor timing on all our parts."

Tails chuckled ruefully. "You said 'the others' – do you know what's going on here?"

"No." Tails could feel Espio shaking his head. "We arrived in town maybe five hours ago. I started looking around after Charmy said he heard Geoffrey's voice. Of course Vector also wanted me to locate Cream's mother." The fox groaned. Vector's unrequited love for Vanilla was almost as big a joke as Amy's crush on Sonic, only lessened by the fact that he didn't slam hammers into vital equipment every time he was let down.

But wait – Geoffrey's voice? Tails assumed that if the skunk had left the wreck early he would have found his way here anyway, but why would that have made scatterbrained Charmy suspicious? "Downunda's up to something, isn't it?" Espio stayed silent. The fox was going to have to put more thought into this, but that could wait for a minute. "Um, can you get my handcuffs off? I got Sonic's screwdriver out but it'll be a lot less awkward if someone else picks the locks."

"No." Tails frowned in puzzlement before remembering that the chameleon couldn't see him either. "I'll work on the door while you handle your own locks. I am sure you'll feel better if you do this yourself." The frown deepened but behind it Tails thought he grasped Espio's point. He was impressed that the chameleon had read deeply enough into him to pick out his worries over being too demanding, and Espio was probably right – if he didn't do this himself, he'd only beat himself up over it further down the road. Tails doubted he'd ever understand how Espio had figured it out so quickly. Or maybe it was the ninja training.

It took several minutes of scratching and gouging before Tails managed to backhandedly slot the screwdriver into the handcuff's fastenings instead of his wrists. He was quietly proud of himself for not crying out in pain, but it wasn't entirely his own doing either. He knew he healed fast, but he was still surprised at how well-recovered the skin seemed to be after his misadventure with the window. It hadn't even tingled, which was more than he could say for his newer injuries. Finally the tool's head clicked home, and Tails began a slow, delicate twist to disassemble the cuffs on his tails. Several times it jumped and the young fox hissed his mounting frustration, but each time he ground the screwdriver back into place and kept at it. The handle had an ugly slickness to it as the fresh cuts started to bleed, and Tails quickly moved to wipe it down with the closer tail. He'd clean the thing more properly later; it wouldn't do for him to wreck another one of Sonic's presents. The Tornado was quite enough on its own.

Tails repeated the process for each of the screws until the cuffs clicked. Their outer casing clattered to the floor, the noise luckily muted by the dust, and the innards rotated open with a simple tug. It was a pleasant surprise to avoid the pain that generally came with renewed circulation – maybe the guard had been considerate and left the cuffs on lightly. The fox flipped the screwdriver around loosely in one hand and caught the shaft, holding it close to the tip and fumbling some more at the much more awkward screws at his wrists. The man behind this really had been rushed, since he had left the screws facing inwards – then again, Tails supposed he couldn't be blamed for not realizing his prisoner carried a concealed screwdriver.

A few minutes of grunting and muffled cursing later, some of which got Espio's attention judging from the blurred motion at the door, the wrist cuffs finally fell apart and joined their fellows in the dust. "Much better," Tails breathed as he rubbed feeling back into his hands – naturally, he'd only had a problem after the blood started flowing again. "Espio?" he added in a hushed voice. "How're you doing over there?"

"Done. The lock was no trouble, though the door itself might be." Tails had to agree. Even the councilor's door had been heavy, and this one probably hadn't been used – or serviced – in years. If someone was patrolling outside, this thing was going to bring them running with the slightest movement. Well, they might as well find out.

Tails and Espio both put their shoulders to the massive door, which to the fox's distinct lack of surprise failed to open. In fact, he wasn't even certain it had _shifted_. He let off the pressure and just sagged against the door, panting. "Espio, when you ducked inside did you notice which side of the door the hinges were on?" There was a palpably different tone to the chameleon's silence that left Tails massaging his temples. There didn't seem to be a handle on the inside, only a small bulge for the bolt lock, and the wood probably weighed more than him and and the chameleon combined. "Only thing I can think of is that we wait for Sonic or Vector or someone to come for us, or maybe one of the guards'll check in and you can –" Espio suddenly covered Tails's mouth, and the fox perked up his ears. Those might very well be footsteps. He flapped his hands at the ground frantically and Espio let him fall. Tails balled up on the floor, hands and tails beneath him, and he landed hard enough on his own handcuff parts that not all of his whimpers were faked. That screw poking into his haunch was particularly nasty.

The whimpers were upgraded into a whine as light flooded the room. After such complete darkness even the wan light of the city hall could be painful, although it wasn't quite bad enough that tightly closed eyelids were a problem. Tails tried to look as uncomfortably asleep as he could feign while he hoped for some sort of signal from Espio.

Any_ sort of signal, Espio_….

Then a voice from just above him spoke, and impatience with the detective was suddenly the last thing on Tails's mind. "Yes, that's him. Congratulations, Councilor Mazula, you've nabbed a person of particular interest to my government." Tails had to repress a low whistle. He hadn't given Charmy enough credit – the bee had a good ear. That was definitely the voice of Geoffrey St. John.

"Not just him." It was the jackal from earlier, of course, and the fox cut himself off as he started to wonder if there was just something _wrong_ with that species. Of course that wasn't it; he'd had too much trouble with his own genetics to start reciprocating. But still, between that gang back in the Emerald Hill Zone and this lady here he really hadn't had any good experiences with jackals. "We brought in all of the others with him too." She sounded disgustingly pleased with herself, and Tails's mouth twisted in response. He could only hope he hadn't just given himself away, and on a tangent to that thought he tucked the screwdriver back into his tail fur. He could clean it later.

"All?" Tails could picture the skunk's cocked eyebrow. "I would have thought that the hedgehog or," he swallowed audibly, "the echidna would have made a better display piece."

"Echidna? There wasn't any echidna on the wreck, and unless my security force is either blind or complicit he hasn't entered the city either."

"Might have been some falling-out, then. But you haven't mentioned Sonic yet." St. John was definitely on edge. "Tell me you at least _know_ where he is."

Tails heard one set of feet step backwards awkwardly and wondered what Espio had gotten up to. "No." There had been quite the pause before the jackal replied, and the fox assumed it was St. John's glare raising the ambient temperature. "He hasn't left the city that we're aware of but there were still witnesses when he returned. We couldn't ambush him the way we could Master Prower and he'd tear our little guard force apart in five minutes if we tried a direct approach."

"You think he'd need five?" Tails had no idea how the skunk managed to sound smug, straightforward, sardonic, and stressed all at once, but he'd certainly like to learn. "In that case we'd best keep this short. We can have a heavy helicopter here to pick up the prisoners within half an hour once the two of us agree on terms."

Both pairs of shoes – well, boots on St. John – padded away and the door lumbered closed. Tails let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he uncurled and got off of that accursed screw. It still seemed unbelievable that not just the councilor – Mazula, had it been? – but also _Geoffrey_ had bought his fitful sleep act, but he wasn't going to question it right now. He kept his eyes shut as he stood, the better to preserve whatever adaption his eyes had managed, a move which proved wise as the door groaned back open yet again a few seconds later.

"You caught all that, Espio?" he started to ask, but he trailed off as he saw the hulking green crocodile that had replaced the dark wood. "Vector? How'd you get in?" The detective chief was even less subtle than Knuckles and Amy combined, and his size and color didn't make it any easier for him.

"A detective has his ways, young Tails," Vector said with a finger raised mysteriously. A familiar drone filled the hallway and a small helmeted orange head popped up over Vector's shoulder.

"He means he knocked a couple of heads together and got lost while Espio and I made a map for him." Leave it to Charmy to deflate any situation Vector got into. Tails had no choice but to grin.

"We've got a time limit, guys. Geoffrey's here, he's working against us, and if he sees the others and realizes you're not there either he'll definitely know something's up." The young fox made purposefully for the door.

"Not a problem, Captain!" Vector said with a mock salute and an ingratiating…smile, Tails supposed, although all those teeth tended to ruin the effect. "I'm sure that one of my able subordinates already knows where we're headed." Charmy ground his palms into his eyes and Tails thought he heard Espio do the same. Well, this was off to a wonderful start – but at least it _had_ started, and that was more than Tails would have managed alone.

"Come on, guys, we'll figure this out. Together, right?" The nods he got were all he needed.

* * *

It wasn't going to be that easy. Heavy footsteps clattered across the tiles and Tails spun on his heel to face two of the local soldiers, hands resting on the stocks of their rifles. Even Tails could tell they were nervous from the way they kept exchanging glances and reaching for their guns, but then again he didn't want to give them a reason to open fire. Eggman's guns were usually easy to dodge, but that was because Tails normally had a plane or wide open space to dodge them _in_. There was a lot of vertical headspace in here, but even with two fliers that wouldn't help them for long – and it wouldn't help Vector at all, and that was a risk the fox couldn't take.

So instead he spread his arms slowly and nonthreateningly. "Um, the door came open," he said lamely, but it had the desired effect – the guards were now audibly sniggering and their weapon hands had come down. He started to edge towards them, hands still out, when a splotch of purple blurred into visibility over their shoulders and dropped on them with a loud cry. Tails had seen it coming and even he had to swallow a few times to get his nerves back under control; the poor guards never had a chance. One got his weapon out and his finger spasm-locked on his trigger, but even as Tails's ears flattened against the echoing thunder his tails were thrusting him forward down the hall and he could sense Vector and Charmy charging in just behind him.

The gunfire brought shards of masonry clattering down from the ceiling around their ears, but the barrel on the oddly bulbous gun wasn't angled anywhere near them and the other man had let his fall as he tried to dislodge Espio from his comrade's head. The chameleon shimmered in and out of visibility, seeming to teleport from one guard to the other, and then finally Tails and the others cannoned into the melee. Tails instinctively pulled his blow before he connected, realizing what a full-speed double kick could do to a living torso, but Vector was beyond stopping. The fox wasn't entirely sure what happened next, but the crocodile went flying forward in what was either a deliberate tackle or the world's most perfectly targeted fall, and landed directly on the guards as a panicked Espio leapt out of the way. Unconsciousness was immediate.

"Someone's going to have heard that," Tails warned, finger in the air. "Nice aim, Vector."

The crocodile rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Actually, um, I –" He looked around for a moment. "Charmy!" The bee ducked behind Tails's legs and blew a raspberry, which only goaded Vector on further. The fox dove aside as Vector lunged, wincing at the ugly crack that had to be one of the two's head on the tiles.

Judging from the groans and high-pitched laughter, it had been Vector's, so Tails wasn't so worried about his recovery. There were other problems. "Cut it out! You want to let everyone else know we're here?" The fox took a relaxing breath. "We've got places to be and not much time to find them, so let's stop fighting and get moving, all right?"

"Ooh!" Charmy's eyes seemed to swallow up most of his head as he spotted the loose combat rifle. "Mine!"

"Charmy, no!" Tails didn't bother to keep his voice down this time. "_Please_ no guns, all right?"

The bee sighed in resignation, but luckily his compassion outweighed his instinctive brattiness and he let the gun lie. Tails let out a sigh of his own, this one in utter relief.

"More guards coming," Espio's hoarse whisper came from somewhere behind them.

_We can't fight them all_,_ one of them'll get lucky_, Tails thought hurriedly, _but where…._ Oh. Of course, _up_. Up meant safe to a flying fox.

"Grab on, Vector," he muttered. The crocodile grunted a question at him and the fox rolled his eyes before wrapping his arms around Vector's and lifting off awkwardly. This had better work.

* * *

The arches had been intimidating the first time, but now Tails was immensely grateful for their looming presence. Vector was a lot heavier than what he was used to, but still he was less awkward than lifting Sonic and Knuckles at the same time. Espio was darting from column to column ahead of them, staying just on the edge of visibility, and he'd already warned them of guards approaching at least half a dozen times.

"Where'd these guys _come_ from?" Tails protested as he sat panting in the gap between an arch and the ceiling. "There were only two of them when Sonic and I were here, and they were both guarding the jackal."

Vector shrugged as best he could in Tails's and Charmy's joint grips, and the fox scowled as he tossed his weight around to compensate. "Making sure you don't do what you're doing, Tails." All right, that was obvious enough, but it still didn't explain how their manpower had gone up geometrically overnight. It was like the whole city was in on it somehow – and judging from the size and athleticism of some of those green-suited troopers that might not actually be wrong. He just hadn't thought they'd have this kind of equipment to go with it, since each guard had been not just uniformed but also outfitted with the same oddly bulbous and curved rifles as the first two. The fox lacked the expertise to identify them, but all he needed to know what that they were not things he wanted pointed at _him_.

The patrols were coming in threes now, and their weapons were out and leveled. That said, none of them seemed to think that they were dealing with two fliers and someone whose ability to climb walls outstripped even Knuckles's, and so they kept their heads down. That didn't stop Tails's heart from pounding every time Espio's hand went up though.

Eventually the chameleon shifted back into visibility right next to Tails's most recent roost. "We're here. Two guards on a closed door, plenty of light. St. John and Mazula must be inside."

"What about Cream and the others?" the fox asked in a hush.

"I haven't seen them. Ask the politicians once we're inside." Tails would much rather have rescued the others first – it was his mistake that had gotten them there, after all – but since neither he nor the Chaotix had any idea where to go next he had to admit Espio's plan was the best one they had.

"Right. Vector, you want to get these two?" Dropping the crocodile on unsuspecting heads was completely unsporting and would probably be very painful, but his friends came first. Besides, St. John would probably tear them all apart if he got enough of a warning.

Well, the guards might not have gotten off an alarm but the thud of Vector's landing sent reverberations through the entire building. The door creaked inwards almost immediately. "I was wondering when you'd get here," the councilor said as she stepped out into the hallway. She looked up immediately. "A pleasure to see you again, Master Prower. And you must be the Chaotix? The colonel told me quite a lot about you." She seemed remarkably unconcerned for someone whose prisoners had just made it to her door, and Tails started looking around nervously for extra guards or weapon turrets or something else that might give her an edge. The fact that he couldn't see anything only made his anxiety worse. He practically jumped as she pulled something out from behind her. "I believe these are yours?" It wasn't a secret weapon after all, just a very familiar set of clothing.

"Don't act like that," Tails said forcefully as he tugged on his gloves and shoes. Who knew, it might actually have hidden his insecurities from someone. He snapped the black wristbands on his gloves tight to reinforce his point. "You let me work for you and then just locked up me and my friends. So what gives you –"

"Oh, hush." Tails's mouth clicked shut out of surprise rather than obedience. "Colonel St. John is out at the helipad waiting for his transport to arrive right now. The others are being held in a storage shed beneath it. I can give you directions to get there before the helicopters do, if you'd like." What was she going on about?

"You're, um, helping us?" Charmy chirped from up in the rafters. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I thought I could do more for you than just bring your friends into my little backwater."

Tails's mouth worked silently for a moment as he tried to process what was going on. "You didn't actually think I was asleep, did you?"

She shook her head. "And the patrol in your wing had your key and orders to unlock you. Considering how highly he spoke of you, I'm sure St. John would have thought you managed it on your own." Wait, _Geoffrey St. John_ had praised someone? Praised _him_? Somehow that was the hardest part of this whole situation to accept.

Well, Tails might not have accepted it, but he was at least starting to piece it together. "Okay, you're saying you betrayed me and the people I had rescued," he frowned, "and locked us up in here," and squinted, "so that Downunda would come to capture us and we could get away in their helicopters. Who_ thinks_ like that?" Just running through that vaguely logical sequence had left him with a headache.

"A woman with far too much time on her hands," Espio said from above. His voice seemed to startle her, but that was probably just because it had come out of nowhere. "When you step down from this position, Lady Mazula, you might consider joining the Chaotix. You would be a natural."

"Thank you," she said without the barest hint of interest. "But considering Master Prower's contribution – and the colonel's, for that matter," she noted with a sly chuckle, "I don't think I'll be leaving this city behind for quite some time. Shall we?" She extended a hand to Tails, and after a second's thought he took it.

* * *

The helipad was already warm in the morning sun, its tarmac sucking at Tails's shoes. That might just be the cracks in the surface, though – yet another victim of the city's poverty, he supposed. He didn't really resent being played any more, not now that Councilor Mazula had explained it all to him. In fact, he had spun around into wondering if she or Espio could teach _him_ how to come up with plans like that. Still, though, he had asked her, Vector, and Charmy to go down and let the others out. She could explain the situation much better than he could, and he didn't feel worthy of addressing them all right now. Plus he hadn't seen Geoffrey yet, and he'd rather have a solid group in each place in case they found the treacherous skunk.

But no, there was still no sign of him by the time the rotor shadows started to spiral over the fox. Espio was somewhere underneath the platform where his camouflage would actually be useful, so Tails was standing in the open as bait when the hulking double-rotored beast clattered down. It wasn't turned off, just left idle, and three soldiers – two bears and what Tails thought was a kangaroo – clambered down and snapped up rifles identical to the ones the guards downstairs had used. Their navy-on-black uniforms blended nicely into their helicopter, and the contrast between them and the desert was so painful that the fox couldn't track the two that fanned out past him. Only one of the bears was left with his rifle trained on Tails, and the fox gave him a nervous grin and obeyed when told to climb aboard the vehicle. That didn't mean he had to stay obedient once he was inside, of course.

The bear climbed in after him, weapon still out, and Tails watched as the councilor and a quartet of locals met the two other Downunda soldiers. He thought he could see rabbit ears further down the access ramp. Almost there….

Tails couldn't hear what Councilor Mazula said, but the jackal suddenly flattened herself against the ground as her people rushed forwards and wrestled with the newcomers, firearms forgotten in their fury. The former prisoners surged up the ramp behind them with a surf roar that Tails couldn't resist contributing to. The bear next to him sat slack-jawed as he tried to figure out the sudden change in plans, and despite being outmassed nearly four-to-one Tails threw himself at the soldier, kicking the rifle away and swinging away with all six limbs with a ferocity he hadn't exhibited since Sonic gave him a home. He slammed his head and tails into his opponent again and again, utterly heedless of his own injuries. Over his opponent's shoulder he could see Cream, both ears plastered back now, and with a snarl like tearing canvas he redoubled his assault. The soldier wasn't even fighting back, just trying to ward off blows meant to rip through armored robots. Tails wasn't sure how far he'd have gone, so lost he was in the moment, if Espio's hand hadn't fallen on his shoulder. The mists cleared and the fox let go of his victim, panting furiously with his tongue lolling out. That hadn't been a pleasant feeling, that rage, but it was one that had come so easily. It wasn't even like the soldier was responsible for any of this; it had just been Tails venting his own problems on a handy target, and that thought even more than the violence swirling around him left him sick to his stomach.

Espio was saying something, but in the absence of direct conflict Tails had gone from a cloud of fury to one of despair and reflection, so the chameleon sighed and made for the reinforced cockpit door on his own. _I always think so much when I get into these situations_, the young fox told himself. _So why didn't I now?_ The answer was simpler than he was comfortable with – he really _didn't_ go into any real detail when he was out bashing bots with Sonic and the others, and he had just treated the bear whimpering at his feet the same way. "I'm sorry," he whispered in a voice so small even he wasn't sure he had spoken aloud.

The others were coming aboard now, and Tails automatically rolled to his feet and clambered out of the way. Vanilla had collected Cream and even Cheese, and they all smiled at him as they stepped into the spacious hold. He smiled back weakly – Cream's good spirits were contagious, but he still had too many doubts to set aside that easily. Then Councilor Mazula and the three of her troops who were still on their feet came forward. "I'll tell you how your machine works for us and maybe make a few more," she said. She had clearly read him well, since engineering was exactly the topic to snap the fox out of his stupor.

"No problem, ma'am. I hope I've been able to help you." His voice was still uninflected, but at least he was starting to feel more than just confusion. "Once things settle down I'll probably come back and lend a hand."

She pursed her lips in a silent whistle. "You're…sure?" He was the one having the existential crisis here, so why was she acting hesitant? "I should have warned you, warned all of you, but I guess since things worked out –" This time it was Tails who interrupted her.

"You meant well; you weren't going to let us get hurt." Unlike him and the soldier. That was something he'd have to work a lot harder on managing. "I think you'd have done this on your own even if I hadn't gotten out of the cell. Plus, hey, it's in the past now, right?" That had always worked on Eggman.

The jackal smiled softly. "In that case, Master Prower, I look forward to seeing you in my city again. I wish you luck in finding Sonic, and in whatever else you plan to do from here. As for us, well, we can't release these soldiers without risking war but we can stall Downunda while things blow over." That was good. He hadn't even thought about things from that angle. "Enjoy your flight." And for all his misgivings and doubts, for all the glares he could feel dancing across his back as he crossed to the hatch, Tails fully intended to do exactly that.

Now he just had to find Sonic and Cosmo, and then they could get out of here.

* * *

Author's Note: The manuscript version has officially passed 100 pages, and that's not including author's notes or edits I've made in the Doc Manager on-site. As proud as the number makes me, I'm also worried about my pacing considering that this has been maybe a fifth of the story, possibly less. I'd very much appreciate feedback on any number of issues, pacing in particular, since I'd rather not put my readers to sleep here.


	9. Taking Responsibility

Finding Sonic was easy enough; the blue hedgehog didn't exactly blend in against the ground. Unfortunately, that wasn't the real problem. As soon as he saw the helicopter clattering towards him Sonic balled up and hurled himself at it, and Tails couldn't move the bird fast enough to get it out of Sonic's way. What he could do, though, was put the main bay in front of him and hope he could get the doors open fast enough.

The grinding motors couldn't hope to compete with Sonic's attack, of course, but they managed to at least give the hurtling hedgehog a peek inside. At least, Tails assumed that was what had happened because the last he saw of Sonic was a pair of bulging eyes and a rapid attempt to uncurl. The entire helicopter reverberated, putting Tails's teeth on edge. He turned to his copilot after everyone was done wincing. "Cream, keep us steady. I'll go grab Sonic." The rabbit chirped an acknowledgement and Tails smiled at her. Between this and the Blue Typhoon, she was going to be a better pilot than _he_ was by the end of the year. The hatch into the main bay groaned open, gears visibly turning as the lock retracted, and Tails stepped through the moment the gap was wide enough.

The hull panels were open but there was no sign of Sonic, so the fox twirled his tails and hopped out. It had the added advantage of getting him away from the assorted stares the other passengers were leveling at him, but for all that his fur was bristling Tails was much more focused on collecting Sonic. He popped outside, reveling as the lively breeze from the twin rotors ran fingers through his fur. His head snaked to and fro as he looked for his brother, who it turned out was holding onto the stubby stabilizer fin with one hand and his nose with the other. Tails couldn't help but laugh as he took in the hedgehog-shaped dent in the helicopter's skin just above that wing. "Nice save, Sonic!" he called across the downdraft. The hedgehog stopped holding his nose long enough to make a very distinctive gesture and Tails's laughter redoubled. He had to grab Sonic now before he was too busy holding his sides.

Mercifully, the hardest part was detaching Sonic from the wing. The rest of it was just keeping a careful eye on his flight path to keep them both safely out of the rotors, which was made much easier by the sheer weight of air being swept down around them. In fact, holding a passenger up over all that wind was challenging enough that Tails was panting by the time he set Sonic back down inside. His wrists throbbed where he had injured them during the breakout, although he hadn't gouged himself as deeply as he had thought - the skin was just tender, not shredded like he had imagined. To her credit, Cream had held the helicopter rock-steady, and the fox made a mental note to congratulate her on that. It seemed that would be the only congratulation going around, though, since instead of the expected cheer they were instead met with grumbles and a palpably angry atmosphere. _No, not angry_. _Betrayed_.

Sonic clearly felt it too, since he stepped forward slightly, right hand sweeping out to guard Tails, and the fox nibbled his lip nervously. Sonic would never forgive him for last night's disaster and he really didn't want his brother to find out this soon, but he could tell that someone was going to say something.

"Anyone want to tell me what's going on?" Sonic asked lightly. No one responded. Tails couldn't blame them. "Tails?"

The fox looked up with a start. "Yeah?" _Play for time. Let this last for every moment you can buy._ Even if he wasn't particularly enjoying _these_ moments.

Sonic snorted. "Don't 'yeah' me, bro. I know the flag on this tin can. I can understand you flying it, but where'd it come from?" His eyes narrowed. "What were you doing last night, little guy?"

Tails couldn't hold out. Sonic was still his brother, even if saying the wrong thing here could change that. He couldn't lie; even if he could think of something to say Sonic deserved the truth. He felt himself wilting under Sonic's patient gaze and his thoughts flashed past without waiting for him to process them. He squirmed where he stood, tails knotting, and just as he was about to come clean inspiration struck.

"Geoffrey." Sonic tilted his head, clearly not understanding. In fact, he could see a ripple of curiosity in the crowd out of the corner of his eye. This might actually work. "He's here too, Sonic. Somewhere in this city, I mean. I, ah, overheard him last night," true enough, "and I think he's been working for Downunda all along."

Sonic's reaction was dramatic and more than a little frightening. He skipped a battle stance, instead dropping directly into an ever-accelerating spin that Tails had seen carve through Metarex hulls on many occasions. "Where is he? Is that jackal hiding him?" Disturbingly the words were slurred more by Sonic's tone than by the spin itself. The fox had never seen his brother this angry, but all he could think about was how lucky he was it wasn't aimed at him after all.

"No, don't worry. She let us take over the helicopter here. Got everyone rounded up and had her guards help us with the crew." The less said about how he got there the better. "I don't know where Geoffrey went after that." Come to think of it that was true too, and it worried him. Sonic's spin was slowing, but there was already a visible indent in the hull beneath him. "Sonic, watch out or you'll go right through –"

Tails knew better than to say that sort of thing aloud. The words were barely out of his mouth when the metal buckled and Sonic hurtled out of the belly of the helicopter. Mercifully the doors were already open and the machine was still close to the ground, because a pressure shift right now would have probably pushed the mood over the edge. As it was, the fox could spare the time to slap his forehead before fluttering back outside to collect his friend. If he wasn't mistaken there were even a few genuine – if strained – chuckles floating out after him.

He almost wished there weren't. He'd been laughed at behind his back plenty of times before, true. Only this time, it actually felt like he deserved it.

There wasn't any good patch for the hole in the deck, but there was at least a ladder that made a decent grate once Tails got it bolted down. It took him some wrestling, and all the while he could feel the uncomfortable stares boring holes in his back, but it was over now. He'd done his best to avoid Sonic, but the hedgehog had ducked away from the crowd into the cockpit. He couldn't dodge this forever, so instead the young fox squared his shoulders and tails and marched forward into the door.

He relaxed automatically as he heard Sonic and Cream laughing together. It was just such an infectious sound he couldn't help but smile along with it, but on top of that he knew Sonic wouldn't be laughing if he had learned the truth. "What did I miss?" he asked as he closed the hatch behind him. The two wore matching grins as they swiveled to face him, and Sonic rocked out of the pilot's seat.

"Not much, Tails. Cream just had a few stories about you and…" he swallowed the grin along with what he had been about to say.

"Yeah," Tails said, his own momentary good mood fizzling out. "We're going to pick her and Cheese up from the Typhoon next, though." Cream perked up at that, hissing as she tried and failed to raise her ears. "We'll drop everyone else off in Soleanna, I'm thinking. I don't think they're part of the war." He _hoped_. Then again, considering how the rest of his decisions had been lately it might be better to pick some random spot on the map instead.

"And then we go shut this down, right?" Sonic looked determined instead of eager, and Tails found himself genuinely wondering what had changed in his big brother's head over the past few days.

"Right."

Cream couldn't resist joining the conversation. "Can I come? If I can help you somehow –"

Sonic's reply was immediate and forceful, leaving Cream balled up in her chair and hiding a whimper. "It's not safe for you," he added a little more gently.

Tails reached out to his friends, not certain which one needed it more right now. "Hey, don't forget what she did to Emerl." That had been one of the more impressive victories he had had the privilege of watching, with Cream and Cheese harrying the renegade robot out to sea. He also hadn't forgotten how hard everyone but Sonic and Knuckles had cried afterwards. "She's getting to be a better pilot than I am, too." Cream uncurled with a proud squeak. "Really, nice work right now. On the Typhoon too, now that I mention it." Her ears really did pop up, if only for a moment, and Tails felt refreshed to have made her day.

Sonic, meanwhile, was muttering something to himself that Tails was perfectly fine with not hearing. Eventually he raised his eyes again and Tails fought an immediate impulse to squirm away. "You've made your point, Tails. It's just," he broke off for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "It's just we all need a rest. I don't know if we can keep you safe when we're all asleep on our feet." Tails was absolutely sure that wasn't the real issue, but he certainly wasn't going to press it. There were enough mines strewn between him and Sonic right now without him coming up with more to bury.

Apparently Cream was more confident than he would. "Please, Mister Sonic. What if Tails faints again?" Oh, great, she knew about that? "Or what about if something happens to you?" _That_ seemed to get the hedgehog's attention.

"To me? Come on, Cream. And I've looked out for my little brother for six years now. I can take care of him." The words were light, the tone was not. Tails edged past Sonic and practically dove for the pilot's seat, grateful for the wide cabin. As he passed, he could have sworn he heard the hedgehog whispering "I have to."

"Uh, guys," the fox said with an extremely nervous laugh, "I'm going to start flying now. You might want to strap in." Anything to cut through the tension – and cut was exactly the right word, considering that his tails were locked out and ready to hammer right through his console with a little more provocation. Sonic just leaned against the partition while Cream snapped back around to her side of the controls. She was even more rigid than Tails, which right then was saying something. He couldn't tell, but he thought the corner of her mouth was ticking. Hopefully Cheese could settle her down, because Tails had more than enough problems to juggle.

But first they had to find the little creature, and in a hulk like the Blue Typhoon that promised to be an adventure all on its own.

* * *

To Tails's surprise Cheese was practically waiting for him. He, Sonic, Cream, Vanilla, and the Chaotix had split up to search for their missing crewman while the rest collected whatever personal belongings they had maintained through all their ordeals. The chao was hiding in the same storage room as last time, a fact made clear when the door opened of its own accord and a pale yellow blob reached out to grasp a dangling tail. The fox gave a sheepish grin and waved before being dragged bodily into the room.

"_Chao_." Cheese's tone was somewhere halfway between irate and pleading, and exactly how he managed that completely eluded Tails. His meaning, luckily, did not.

"Cream's fine, little guy." He pointed back out into the hall by way of explanation, not that he knew exactly where the little rabbit was. "Everything went nice and smooth last night."

The reply was both instantaneous and indignant. There might have been a fringe of disappointment in there too, and Tails cringed. Getting chewed out by a _chao_ was a whole new low even for him.

"Was that why you were so upset, Cheese?" The chao's head bobbed, setting the yellow antenna atop it flailing but leaving the rest of the body still. For all Cheese's antics and simple exterior Tails had to remind himself that the little creature was intelligent and empathetic, often on a level the fox couldn't even process. It also wouldn't hurt to remember that a sufficiently irritated chao could destroy an entire civilization. "You overheard the guards coming? Or something like that?" he frantically added when the chao's look of disappointment deepened.

"Or something like what?" For what was possibly the first time in his life Tails wished the owner of that voice would just go away. Well, no, there had been another time. It had come two months ago, and Sonic hadn't deserved it then either. No, he had just let Tails shift all the blame over onto his shoulders, and so for all his stress and the pain of that last conversation the fox was not going to turn his big brother away again right now.

Besides, if he told his story right he wouldn't have to go into detail about last night after all. Of course, the little blue lie detector bobbing next to him was going to complicate that.

"Hey, Sonic," he started nervously. "You know how sensitive Cheese can be. I think he was trying to warn me about Geoffrey when I was out here last night to grab those parts." He slid a sideways smile to the chao, who nodded in approval. So far, so good.

"I wish he could speak. It'd make all our lives easier." Tails closed his eyes. Usually he'd agree but right now he'd never been so glad Cheese was mute. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you that Cream's grabbed," Sonic paused for a moment, licking his lips, searching for the right word, "the flowerpot. I thought I heard Cheese so I came up here to check on him."

"I gave you…" Tails drew back before he could finish his sentence. Sonic had probably already finished his own sector of the ship anyway. "Never mind. How's everyone else doing?" Cheese squirmed beside him and Tails already knew he wasn't going to like the answer.

"I had a little talk with Vector during the flight over." Tails felt ice water seeping into his fur. "He's almost angry. Says even the people who didn't have a problem with you at first are getting pressured into it."

"Vector actually thought that through? I'm impressed." He knew that was unfair, but right now Tails would take any avenue that led off the topic. If his dread would allow him. "What else did he say?" He was terrified of the answer, but all the same unable not to ask.

"Nothing really." Sonic tossed his head, spines springing behind him. "I was hoping you'd know a bit more. Guess you were out all night though."

"Yeah," Tails murmured. Well, that was certainly one way to put it, and if Sonic just thought he had been working on his greenhouse the whole time the fox had no intention of arguing with him. Cheese was still playing along, and he smiled at the little creature again. "Better get you back to Cream now." The chao did what passed for jumping, blobby limbs flailing madly. It was good to see _someone_ was happy, at least.

Cream was already waiting for the trio out on the landing strip. As soon as she noticed Tails she held out the little terracotta flowerpot for him. "Trade you," the fox said with a laugh, heart already lighter now that his confrontation with Sonic was safely over. Cheese abandoned his nest in Tails's tail fluff and leapt clean over the fox's ears to land squarely on Cream's head, and she set the pot down gently before bursting into an exuberant blur of motion.

"Good to see they're happy," Sonic said from over Tails's shoulder, unknowingly echoing his little brother's thoughts from earlier. "That doesn't happen very much lately."

"Yeah," Tails muttered back. After all, what else was there to say?

* * *

There had been a thick grey smudge across the horizon for hours before Tails could make out details on the Spagonian coast. The water had long since lost its inviting green shade, giving way to the iron grey he mostly associated with storm clouds. Flashes of white darted across the distant bank and the fox shivered. It was all right for now. The lightning was still far off. It couldn't hurt him from here, not yet.

All of a sudden he was grateful for Sonic's presence at his shoulder. It had been awkward through the whole flight, but when the storms came his big brother had always been there. "Espio, where are we?" Cream had slipped off to play with Cheese as soon as they came back aboard, so the chameleon had come forward as copilot and navigator. If nothing else there was much less chatter in the cockpit this time around, and for once in his life Tails found that comforting. Well, a little more comforting than talking had made him feel, even if it was still awkward either way.

He was woolgathering again and he knew it. The fox shook the wandering thoughts out of his head just in time to catch Espio's reply. "Perhaps twenty-five kilometers from Soleanna's main harbor. Six kilometers from the main body of Spagonia – we have been running parallel to it for over an hour."

"Thank you." Tails had never grown a head for geography – he flew by instruments and vision rather than landmarks and generally had either no goal or one that was moving anyway. "I'll need to get in touch with their controller in, um," he ran the math in his head and wondered where Espio had piked up kilometers from when everyone else he knew used miles, "two or three minutes then. Sonic, could you –" _No, bad idea_. "– Could you take over for Espio while _he_ lets the passengers know?"

"You know how I am with machines, big guy. There's no problem with me going out and talking for a little bit."

Tails wanted to protest, but he'd already lied to Sonic several times today and didn't feel up to telling him "no" on top of everything. So instead he just nodded and turned his eyes back to the visor. Those clouds were getting closer, and as the hatch swung shut and the lock clattered into place behind him he leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't quite right about them. They were missing the heavy greens of a storm front that size; instead there was a blue haze around it that made his eyes hurt.

A blue fringe. So, smoke. Well, this climate was known for wildfires – he and the Tornado had even helped douse a few back on Earth – but knowing that wasn't going to help if he was about to land in an evacuated area. That made how many mistakes in a row now?

Then again, even without his astraphobia it wouldn't have been a good idea to fly a helicopter into that kind of storm either. At least the smoke had probably settled out across a broad area; the storm would have been everywhere at once. More flashes danced across the distant sky. Heat lightning, then, or were they going to get the worst of both worlds after all? "Espio, switch through the radio for me, okay? Something's wrong over there and I want to find out what it is." The chameleon quietly complied.

There was just static at first, of course. Tails had never asked which bands Soleanna's radio stations used, and it didn't seem like Espio did either. But eventually something burbled out of the headset, and the fox scrambled frantically for its mounting hook over his head. Espio's hand darted out and collected it first, and he passed it to Tails wordlessly. The fox slotted the single muff over one ear as best as the oversized rubber seal would go and adjusted the mic to match. He immediately wished he hadn't.

"…and we are the bulwark," came what sounded like a reedy imitation of Professor Pickle's voice, "of not only our lands but those of our friends, our coworkers, and our allies." Tails was hardly a great orator himself, of course, but even to him this sounded amateur. The man was swallowing his consonants and pausing in the strangest places. In fact, it reminded him of some old historical feature that he'd helped Chris write an essay about back on Earth. Even the content of the speech sounded suspiciously similar. "So I ask each of you again today, as ever, to remain optimistic and faithful, to stay vigilant without falling to your fear. I know that Soleanna's people will always stand as a firm breakwater against every tide."

Another voice, much firmer and minus half of the static, chimed in after a brief moment of silence. "That was the voice of Professor Lord Regis, speaking as always from the Zero Point facility." Tails's ears shot up. Although he had kind of expected it, it was still wonderful to hear the confirmation. "We advise you not to travel outdoors unless necessary, and to carry our freely distributed masks to protect yourselves from the dust and smoke. And with that, we turn our program over to music."

Tails made a cutting motion to Espio, who promptly started turning the dial. "They're talking, but we need a station that's actually saying something." There were faint patches of chatter over the next few bands, so Tails let his thoughts roam until something bigger came along. Professor Lord Regis. He'd wanted to meet the man behind Zero Point Energy ever since he'd heard it existed, and after his curious encounter with Spagonia's Professor Pickle he wouldn't make a fool of himself either. Well, at least not over the Professor Lord being human; the young fox was sure he'd find some other way.

But all of that was a problem for later, and he didn't have time to be starry-eyed just yet. No, the important part of the speech had been the information that Soleanna was nowhere near as neutral as he had hoped. So he was leading his weary, irritable refugees directly into another warzone without any idea of where else they could go that would be secure. The fox let go of his controls with one hand to massage his throbbing temples.

After a moment's moping he waved that hand limply at Espio. "Try taking us back to the channel we started on." They were close enough to the city for him to make out tracers he had thought were lightning now, so it was worth a shot. "Spagonia's fifteen universities that turned into a country, and Soleanna was just too big to join them. I bet they're already watching Downunda communications, so they might be trying to talk to us on those." No sooner had he spoken than he realized the flip side to that. "And if you can, track down this thing's defenses. We might need them. Very soon."

Tails really hated being right. Only a few seconds after Espio had dialed him back down to the original wavelength a voice came in across it. It was cut through with static and might have gone through a machine first, but unfortunately he could still make out the words. "Hostile aircraft, this is your final warning. Come to heading," the speaker rattled off a string of numbers that Tails quickly swung the helicopter to match, "and maintain altitude or we will intercept – that's better. Thank you."

The fox immediately toggled his mic on and started decelerating hard. "This is Miles Prower speaking. I'm flying a –" what was the word again? "– commandeered Downunda transport helicopter. I have thirty-four civilians on board and request assistance." He thought for a moment longer. "Please don't shoot us down."

The voice was silent for quite some time, long enough for a long ash-stained sandbar to swing up beneath them. "No promises. Maintain heading for an additional one-point-four kilometers and halt. Our response will be waiting for you."

Tails's teeth were chattering, his ear was flicking, and his tails were wound tighter than industrial springs. "Espio," he said in a soft monotone. "Let everyone know what's going on. We're going to land in the first shelter we –"

It looked like they wouldn't have to wait even that long, as a beeping alarm spiked from silence to nearly a solid tone. Tails knew that noise from years of experience he could have quite comfortably gone without, and between the clumsiness of the transport helicopter and the fact that neither he nor Espio knew how to work its combat tools – or if it even had them –there were only a handful of equally unpleasant options. And so, as the beep truly did become constant, he slammed his fist down to kill power to the rotors. His tails had saved him when he fell asleep at high altitudes before simply by being forced into a spin by the air below him. Hopefully the helicopter would do the same.

His maneuver seemed to have caught whatever was locked onto them by surprise, seeing as they weren't all vaporized immediately. With the machine basically out of his hands he instead leaned forward to survey their impromptu landing site. Low buildings, probably a suburb, jutted out at him and he wondered why the controller would have tried to shoot them down over such a vulnerable spot. Maybe the dust gathered here was his answer; maybe they simply had been abandoned long before he had arrived. He was about to find out one way or the other, and his spine skipped up into his mouth as the landing skids squealed beneath them. Mercifully they weren't going fast enough to skip the way the Blue Typhoon had, but that just meant that the helicopter could swivel through bowel-voiding angles as the skids gave out.

Finally the shaking stopped and Tails was able to breathe again. Well, at least until he realized what was coming next. "Espio…." No. There was nothing to say, really, was there? Nothing he wasn't about to say in public anyway. So instead he threw all his limited weight at the door handle, taking out his stress on the abused machinery, and swung through into the badly battered cabin.

"Oh, Chaos, you're all okay!" he said as he took in the assembled passengers. Well, that was stretching it, but considering they'd had maybe fifteen seconds of warning to strap into crash webbing or at least find some kind of handhold there was a distinct lack of visible injuries.

The mood more than made up for it, though, and Sonic was already pulling his spines out of the wall and crossing to the cabin, arm outstretched to screen Tails from the well-deserved fury that washed off the others in waves.

To his utter amazement, Vector was the one who stepped forward to speak. "That's it! I think I speak for everyone when I say we're through with this. Dragged around, shot up, shot down, and all because we thought you knew what you were doing."

Tails felt an all-too-familiar burning behind his eyes, but he refused to give in and cry. Not now, not in front of Sonic, and especially not when the crocodile was right. "I know. I messed things up for you again. No last chances, I don't think I'd get those right either." He raised his face back up from the decksole. "I'll still be trying to help you guys as much as I can, but I don't really know what's best after all." His eyes dropped again, left shoe scuffing the warm metal. "Sorry."

"I'll say," the crocodile said with a masterful snort. Then, unless Tails was utterly hallucinating – a distinct possibility all things considered – he flashed the young fox a quick wink. "Come on, Charmy. Time for us to use our detective skills to make these people a new home!"

"Perhaps you should give that responsibility to those who already know how," a level voice suggested from over Tails's shoulder. "I can look for a safe haven and we have several hosts among us. If Vanilla and Cream would care to lend us their aid?" Tails and Sonic looked back at Espio, wondering where the sudden inspiration had come from. Sonic's eyes widened as Tails's narrowed, and this time he was certain that the chameleon gave a factional nod. Trust him to listen in on that conversation with Cream! Between last night's rescue and their intervention now, he owed the Chaotix a lifetime's worth of commissions.

Tails felt like he still had to say something, some sort of torch-passing in his last semiofficial act as leader. But the more he searched for the words, the faster his thoughts ran away from him.

And then there were no thoughts at all, and the last thing he felt was the hot deck beneath his calves and the soft hands against his back.

* * *

Author's Note: This chapter has been a serious pain to write, hence the three-week gap since my last upload. On top of that it still could probably stand for some merciless cutting, seeing as I rehash the same issue in three different conversations, but on the other hand I felt it was an immediate enough manifestation of both characters' biggest problems post-Cosmo that it deserved to be dwelt on. I very much welcome feedback, and although I'm back at the University now I should be writing if anything even more frequently. I find that having a regular schedule actually helps me focus on creative writing more during my free time - what little of it I have, considering my seven and a half hours of class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In any event, I welcome feedback - especially on this chapter - and know where I'm going with the story now, so hopefully I won't keep anyone who actually visits this waiting for too much longer.


	10. Soleanna's Welcome

Thoughts ricocheted off of every corner of Tails's skull. Despite the echoes, though, there wasn't very much variety. The longer they lasted the more bored he became. There were just a few words, really – in fact, just one that mattered. _Coward_.

The resentment that had simmered among the refugees hadn't been targeted at Tails alone. No, Sonic had borne the brunt of it. In fact, the hedgehog had done his best to shield his brother from as much of the anger as he could, the way he always did. And Tails had been too afraid to even tell him _why_. The fox didn't doubt he'd be crying if he could feel his body, regardless of what Sonic might think of that. His fear had been his own mistake, but it had been everyone around him that suffered for it. And it wasn't even the first time, was it? No, his lack of foresight had cost Cosmo just as dearly.

It wasn't foresight though, or at least not only. In an incandescent moment he understood what Knuckles had meant all along. He always got so embedded in the first rut he came across that when it finally let him down anyway he couldn't think of any other way things could be. He hadn't looked for other options two months ago, hadn't dared to tell Sonic the truth yesterday, hadn't even taken responsibility for his mistakes just now. No wonder he had driven Knuckles away.

The moment had been incandescent inside his head, true, but he realized things were just as bright beyond his eyelids. So he was awake, that was probably good. _No, it _is _good. Bad fox_! Drowsily he opened his eyes the rest of the way, feeling a taut mattress pad beneath his tails and a crisp sheet spread above him. Yet again his shoes and gloves were missing, and the light was so scorching he had to close his eyes again immediately. Ironically enough it nearly put him back to sleep, but he was ready to be done with his thoughts. And he had so many things to say to Sonic, too.

He slammed his head sideways and opened his eyes away from the light, twisting up on his side to relieve his neck. The mattress pushed the gouge in his ear wide open and Tails unashamedly yowled.

"Sonic, he's up," rang a voice that filled even the half-awake fox with dread. "_So_-nic?"

Tails muttered incoherently at his mattress, wishing for a pillow or quilt to bury his head in. He'd have to ask Sonic how they ended up here, wherever here was, and even more urgently how Amy Rose had wound up there with them. That would probably have to wait, though, since his brother wouldn't willingly come within a kilometer of the girl when she got into one of her moods.

And, armed with that knowledge, Tails nearly fainted again when he heard Sonic's voice answer. It was too distant to make out but clearly still inside the building, which ought to be impossible given Amy's flirtatious tone. The illogical situation was at least an easier headache to deal with than the one his ear was giving him, though, and the young fox rolled upright – and promptly smacked his other ear on the low ceiling. He'd never had a bunk bed before and now he realized what a good decision that had been. The roof seemed to pull itself closer to him, bulging and bowing and flowing to put pressure directly on his eyes, and Tails whipped back around and dug into his mattress. He'd never been claustrophobic before and he'd been in much tighter spaces than this, so what was _wrong_ with him?

Cautiously he began to roll back upright again, conscious to keep both ears level, and this time he was ready for the rush of vertigo. It wasn't so bad, all things considered, not now that he knew what to expect. Maybe it was the result of knowing he was up high and yet still trapped below too, something that ran completely counter to his usual flyer's instincts. That sounded plausible, and it wasn't all that important right now anyway. Still, tomorrow night he'd be perfectly happy to take the lower bunk. Or the floor.

After a moment's contemplation he hopped off the bed, reveling in the moment of acceleration before cushioning his fall with his tails. Unfortunately, he had once again forgotten his abrasions and this time his reaction went past a yowl to a plaintive keen.

Sonic came running, as if he ever traveled any other way, but even at his speeds Tails had already gotten his injuries off the thin grey carpet and flopped up onto the lower bunk. "You hit your head, big guy?" His eyes flicked to Tails's ear. "And seriously, hasn't that thing healed yet? I thought the doc had patched you up."

Tails shrugged. The pain was receding rapidly, it was really the surprise that made it so bad. "Don't know. I mean, the glass damage was gone by the time I woke up, so I don't…uh, oops." He stumbled off into desperate mumbling as Sonic caught what he had just said.

"Glass? What happened, Tails?" There would normally be a laugh in Sonic's voice when he asked that kind of question. Right now, though, he sounded entirely serious and Tails didn't even consider not answering this time.

Instead he kicked his heels against the wood plank at the bottom of the bunk. For a moment he let the unusual texture of the waxed wood seep into his bare feet, but then he came back to the moment. "Well, when the Blue Typhoon started to crash I had to get to the controls fast – it was the Master Emerald, I mean, and I was down in the shrine and I'm not really making any sense, am I?" he trailed off helplessly.

Sonic just looked at him. "Go on."

"What else is there? I, um, flew through the window between me and the console and told Cream to hit the emergency shutdown. We really need to make that easier when we get back to the ship." Sonic was still giving him that level, appraising stare and Tails shrugged broadly. "What?"

"You flew," Sonic repeated, "through a window." Tails swallowed hard before nodding. "You _flew_ through a _window_." He covered his eyes. "Don't tell me it was the one with the wire strung through it too." Tails didn't even have to nod this time. "Tails, what am I going to do with you?"

"Hey, I had to get there fast as I could, okay?" Considering how much effort he had put into avoiding Sonic's question yesterday he was probably being way too defensive, but now that he was talking he felt compelled to explain himself. "That meant taking the most direct route."

"Did it? I mean, did you really need to get there so fast you couldn't take a safer way? Come on, bro, you aren't me."

This time Tails couldn't resist. "You know, Knuckles said the same thing to me right before he left."

"Did he?" Sonic gave an approving half-nod. "Guess he cares more than I thought then."

It seemed like the ice was finally thick enough. "I think…I think his whole problem goes back to what we did to Cosmo. What I did."

The hedgehog chuckled mirthlessly. "Tails, _everyone_'s got problems from that." He met Tails's eyes for just a second, then his expression brightened. "Come on, we shouldn't be talking about this kind of thing. Not before breakfast anyway. We can go out for a run later and work it out. If you're up for it, I mean."

That wasn't such a bad idea. Tails rocked off the bed for real this time, waving aside Sonic's offered hand. "I can walk, don't worry. It was just my tails again." No sooner had he said that than he staggered, nearly twisting his right ankle, and this time he had nothing but gratitude for his brother's intervention. "Actually, I'm feeling pretty tired still," he admitted with a sheepish grin. It was weird, but now that the pain had faded and he had gotten off the bed he really didn't feel like he had slept at all. Considering it had been two particularly stressful days since his last bed, that wasn't a good sign. "How long was I out?" The grin was back off Sonic's face.

"It's been, what, a day and a half? Man, and you're _cold_, too. When I see Vector again I'm going to –"

Tails waved his hands frantically – well, at least limply. "He stepped in to _save_ me, Sonic. I think the other guys would have mobbed me if Vector didn't take control. Espio and Vanilla were really on top of it too – and how did Amy and I wind up _here_, wherever here is?" And what had Sonic meant by "cold?" He felt fine!

And now the grin was safely back. Sonic must have been really tired himself to slide between moods so easily. "I keep telling you to switch off your brain every now and then. How about I let her fill you in over breakfast while I take a look around?"

"Works for me." Breakfast – he'd been going for at least five days on a few pots of mint tea. No wonder he was so tired! With a smile of his own he followed Sonic down a greying hall, stumbling every so often as his feet skidded on the sudden hardwood floor. Maybe going barefoot was something he needed to practice, but then again he was already feeling preemptively embarrassed for his meeting with Amy, so he could go without it just fine and - he shook his head wryly. Sonic was right, he really did think too much sometimes, and even for him it could get tiring after a while.

* * *

"That was amazing. Thanks," Tails said as he licked heavy cream from his whiskers. Amy's cooking had come a long way since he first met her, between the efforts of the Thorndyke's maid Ella and more recently Cream and her family. Even if he had burned his tongue on the first bite, the smell and the texture of the cream were more than enough to fill his mouth with flavor. He had no idea how she had found the time or ingredients for what, if he guessed correctly, was some kind of crepe in this seemingly abandoned town. Or, for that matter, how she had paid for them – of course, Sonic did tend to get discounts. All the same, Tails suddenly felt uneasy. "Um, where'd you get it, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Oh, that." Amy leaned against the peeling wallpaper nonchalantly. "There was plenty to spare in the pantry and the refrigerator.

Tails might not have felt cold when Sonic mentioned it earlier, but he was shivering now. "And the people who own this place – you asked them, right?"

"I'd like to know that too." Tails's chair skittered across the linoleum as the strange voice sounded. There was a wolf behind them, carrying a rectangular prism on a stick that Tails could only assume was his gun. He was dressed in a green-on-green uniform that looked identical to the ones back in Shamar, give or take the ridiculous cylindrical hat and the inch-thick layer of ash on its brim, and he looked even less friendly – or forgiving – than the refugees back at the crash. "Captain Pietro, Soleanna Defense League. So it is you after all. Constantine said you'd be coming." he made a musical chuckle that Tails wished he was in a position to enjoy, "Sadly, you're also trespassers and looters in a warzone. And therefore under arrest."

Sonic, who had ducked back into the hallway just before the captain's arrival, rolled under Tails's arm and popped up in a wide stance. Tails spoke up before Sonic had the chance. "Constantine? If you mean the doctor you'll understand why we landed. I've had these fainting spells lately, and Sonic had to get me to shelter."

"Imagine that." There wasn't even a hint of sympathy in the wolf's liquid voice. "Because he mentioned that you were a little battered but otherwise just fine."

That got a rise out of Sonic. "Hey, back off! He said it was my idea; now leave Tails alone."

"Tails?" Amy picked probably the worst possible time to get indignant. "What about me, Sonic?"

"Her too." Sonic hadn't even looked at her. "Look, we both know I could flatten you right now, but I'm not that kind of guy. So I'll go along peacefully as long as you don't hold it against them."

"So, your friends break the law and then hide behind you afterwards? Some heroes." Pietro's mouth twisted into a snarl and Tails felt his heart shrivel at the words. The feeling only got worse as the soldier blocked Sonic's enraged kick on a paneled arm.

Sonic was practically spitting himself. "I told you it was my idea. I also told you to leave him alone. I guess you just didn't _hear_ me!" He twisted to kick at the captain's ear, but instead pirouetted away and rocketed back in his signature spindash. Even with such limited room to accelerate, the attack was much too powerful for the wolf to ward off this time, and the big blocky gun discharged a purple bolt as it hit the wall. "Better now?"

Pietro lurched to his feet, settling into a wary crouch. "Resisting arrest, assaulting an officer – you realize the courts'll tear you all apart for this?"

Something about his tone set off an alarm in Tails's head. "Sonic, back off. I don't want him to take this out on the others."

The captain staggered backwards. "You think – you honestly think – I wouldn't dare!" He took a few deep breaths and regained his composure. Mercifully, Sonic didn't take the opportunity to attack him. Neither did Amy, as Tails suddenly noticed that she was holding her hammer idly behind her back. "I suppose.…" The wolf growled, but it was pensive instead of hostile now. "I suppose this has been a bad start for all of us. If you're willing to come to an arrangement I'm sure we can let you work off your debt without getting the law involved." It sounded like it caused him physical pain to say that.

"Why the sudden change? Afraid Sonic's going to chase you off?"

"Amy!" Tails scrubbed at his eyes. It was too _early _for this sort of thing. "Sorry about this, Captain," he said with a tired smile. "We've all had a rough few days and we're not thinking straight. Amy!" he blurted out again as the girl puffed up indignantly, and aside from a menacing wave of her hammer she decided not to dig their hole any deeper. "I'm sure we can help you out somehow. Heh, we'd probably have done it even if we hadn't messed up out here." He tried to widen the smile but didn't really feel it. It was up to Captain Pietro now.

"Hear that, hedgehog? Your fox wants to come with me. There's –" Tails could probably have told him that was the wrong thing to say, but he would have been lying if he said it wasn't satisfying to watch Pietro sail across the room as Sonic caromed into his jaw.

The fox scampered over to the downed soldier while Sonic uncurled. "My _brother_. Not 'my fox.' Huge difference."

Tails sighed as he found a pulse. He didn't know what he'd have done if he hadn't – probably melted down on the spot. "He's fine. He'll have a worse headache than mine when he wakes up, though. Amy, you got anything we can leave with him? Medicine or something?"

She chewed her lip for a moment. "Well, there's a couple of icepacks in the freezer. No medicine though. Sonic asked me to check."

"Amy…." This time Sonic reined her in and left Tails wondering why. "Okay, yeah, I hoped there would be something left over for you, big guy. Your fainting spells pick the worst times, you know? And whatever that doctor said, I don't believe him." His expression curdled. "Especially not now. All that talk about 'privacy' – hah."

"He did say we could check back in a week or so once he got the right tools," Tails reminded him. "Just bad timing on my part, I guess. And I mean, he said he lived here, so I guess it makes sense he'd be reporting things like that." Okay, he had said Spagonia, not Soleanna, but Sonic probably didn't care enough about the difference to challenge it.

He did seem to be considering it, though, but eventually his smile came back. "Well, slap some ice on him, find Tails's stuff, and let's get going, Amy." She casually splintered the gun beneath her hammer first, releasing a faintly visible cloud of something the fox would rather not breathe.

Where they'd be going, Tails had no idea. It wasn't like they had a better option than to run right now though –half of Soleanna would be out for blood once Pietro woke up. He shook his head, hoping Sonic hadn't seen. It wasn't fair to the other group, was it? They'd finally gotten rid of him and he managed to make their lives even harder anyway. Well, the Chaotix could look after themselves. _No, you'd better not think that_._ Don't give them the choice_. At least Vanilla and Cream should be fine, though, and _they'd_ see everyone else through safely. The thoughts helped Tails relax as he headed for the door.

* * *

"This was _your _idea," Tails reminded Sonic as the monorail whirred towards the city. His big brother gave him a mock-offended look but conceded the point. The fox hadn't really meant it and Sonic could clearly tell. Right now they could all do with a slightly lighter mood.

"I still say you should've let me at them, Tails." Amy was seething over in her corner and her hands flexed in their cuffs, clearly longing for the haft of her hammer. "With Sonic there we'd be halfway across the world by now." Assuming they could have gotten past the fifteen soldiers covering the front door first...

"And what would that have done, Amy?" Tails's abrasions were itching again as they pressed against the cold metal wall, and he could feel his attitude spiraling downward as one annoyance piled on top of another. "I wanted to get a word in with their government anyway now that I know what's going on. I figure this just hurries it up." Never mind the half-dozen troopers Sonic had laid out flat before Tails convinced him to stop. "Plus, they're supposed to be on our side."

"Which is why they almost shot you down." Sonic seemed genuinely offended by that part and Tails had no idea why. "Seriously, they might not like Downunda but that doesn't make them nice." Tails refrained from pointing out that _Sonic_ had tried to take them down when he saw the flag on their helicopter. It wouldn't do any good at this point.

After a quiet moment Amy spoke up again. "I guess I should have waited on those pastries this morning." The fire had completely gone out of her and Tails would have offered her a friendly pat if he could move his limbs.

"No, it's not that, Amy. I'm sure the captain would have come up with something else if you hadn't." Tails knew he was being unfair, but Amy didn't need fairness right now. Then again, she had probably been the closest of his friends to her own self over the last two months, and the fox was stricken with a sudden attack of curiosity. "I'm sorry if it's a sore spot, but how did you...cope? With the whole...Cosmo thing, I mean?" Tails blushed through his fur before the words were even out of his mouth.

Amy, curiously, didn't seem to mind. "It hurt, Tails. Of course it did – she was our friend too. But I didn't go looking for people to blame the way Knucklehead did." _Or the way I did_. "I mean, you and Sonic and Shadow did your best and there wasn't anything the rest of us _could_ do. So I didn't worry over it too much. I still miss her, but I don't have to think about how we lost her. There're a lot of happier thoughts – like that time you two ran into the love trap I set for Sonic. That was so –"

Sonic swung around as best he could to glower at her mock-threateningly, and she swooned more melodramatically than Tails had thought possible in response. He'd better start looking for ways to get them out of here if they needed it These people had left him his screwdriver too, but there wasn't any point in using it just now. After all, this monorail was going to take them into the main part of the city somewhere; unless Amy and Sonic tore one another apart first they might as well take advantage of that.

That was, of course, the floor's cue to come up and slap him in the face.

"What's going on?" Amy demanded as she dug her quills out of the bench. "What was that?"

"Something hit us." Tails's voice didn't waver, although his vision certainly did. "Here, Amy, give me your wrists. I'll get those cuffs off and we can –"

Daylight, such as it was behind the curtain of ash, filtered into the cabin. "You three! We're taking fire from a landside patrol. We'll take those off if you'll help us out." The young ground squirrel was in a rail conductor's outfit, not one of the military uniforms, and she was so plaintive Tails felt compelled to help her. "The officer in charge gave me your keys – figured you wouldn't look for them on me if you got out, he said. It doesn't matter anyway, we need you out there right now!" She fished around in her vest for a minute before coming up with a small ring of downright tiny keys. Tails's and Amy's bindings clattered off in short order, but for some reason the young woman stopped as she got to Sonic. "What?"

The hedgehog shook his head. "Nothing. Just thinking, that's all."

"A novel experience," Tails proclaimed, and all four of them shared a glorious tension-relieving laugh as the squirrel finished her task. "Ready to go?"

"I'll stay behind and take care of the other passengers. Have fun out there!" She vanished back through the dangling door as suddenly as she had arrived.

"I figure it'll be easier if we catch them by surprise," Sonic said. "Amy, you want to make us a door?" Her snarl would have done any cat proud.

Tails braced himself, waiting on a fresh flood of light to start his attack, and just for a moment he started brooding again. The last time he'd fought a professional, living enemy he'd nearly torn the poor man apart, and Sonic had done quite a number on the locals that morning too. He didn't want to hurt anyone if he didn't have to, but sometimes he had to and since he had obligations tugging him in every direction this was probably one of those times. Then Amy's swing tore a ragged hole in what had once been the roof and all three of them sprang out into the chatter of gunfire, and Tails no longer had any time for his own worries.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm experimenting with the cliffhanger here, in the desperate hope that it'll get me back to writing more quickly and keep me focused after that. Rest assured, the war really is going to hit everyone squarely between the eyes in the next couple of chapters. And there are a few other plot threads inching towards resolution now too - I think I've planted all of the seeds for them at long last. Also, I'm sorry for the little end-of-chapter motive rant out of Amy but she's the character I have the weakest grasp on and I felt a pressing need to flesh her out _fast_ so she'd be more than "Clingy Jealous Girl with giant hammer and bizarre mood swings." Hopefully it worked, but that was a last-second addition. Later than last, in fact; I only edited it in at 2:45 the day after I posted the original draft.

As a side note, Captain Pietro is a rather obscure member of the Sonic cast himself. More specifically, he's the human in '06 that asks you to "find the real guard captain" while being the captain himself (and if you haven't played that game and for some reason want to, enjoy your free S-rank on that particular mission).

As always, I appreciate reviews and other feedback, and I hope you enjoy the story.


	11. Raiders

In retrospect, leaping headfirst out of a derailed train into the firing lines of an unknown number of automatic weapons might not have been the brightest idea, no matter how appealing it had seemed at the time. The omnipresent ash put an unpleasantly slimy layer beneath his shoes, although on the other hand flipping backwards over his heels might very well have saved his life. There was no cover to be found – or, more accurately, the Other Side had already found it. _Couldn't they have at least given us windows in there_?

Sitting on his tails brooding wasn't exactly going to help his life expectancy, and he hopped up as Sonic spun away across the open ground in a tight blue ball. "Amy, get back in the train while we distract them."

"Hey, just because I'm a girl –" Tails hurriedly moved to reassure her, keeping as low a profile as he could while still standing between her and the bulk of the wildly spread gunfire.

"Not that. But I'm not even sure _I_ can get over there without someone winging me, and I can keep up with Sonic some of the time. Let us get a few of them and you can mop up the others once they're not –" At least one of the soldiers finally drew his attention back from the madly pinwheeling hedgehog to the two obvious targets back by the train and Tails tackled Amy back inside as slugs started to spang off the surprisingly sturdy hull. _What's that hammer made of_? Tails wondered for far from the first time.

Amy was still fuming but even so she seemed to take Tails's point, which meant it was time for the fox to get back out there and help his big brother out. He knew from his many encounters with Eggman's robot armies that the best answer to automatic fire was to keep moving as erratically as possible, and he was uniquely able to do just that. He started off at a simple trot, breaking stride every so often, but for whatever reason the enemies seemed more interested in keeping his head down than in actually hitting anything. _Probably don't want to give Sonic any kind of reason to get mad at them_. Kind of like him, then.

As whoever it was that was firing in his general direction paused to reload, Tails wound himself up and leapt into the air. Sure, he was a more obvious target – as became immediately evident when at least three other guns swept over towards him – but he was infinitely harder to hit when he could move in three dimensions instead of just two. He rose, fell, swept from side to side, and even dropped back from time to time as he closed the scarily large gap, and even with all his knowledge of his abilities he was fully aware of his _limits_ too. If even one of those slugs hit him – _no, bad time to think about that, Tails_. But there was a lot of ammunition buzzing around him, and he still had a solid hundred yards to go to the ridge they were hiding behind.

And then the fire slackened and vanished as Sonic finally looped around that ridge and lifted off the ground himself. Tails could imagine the clunk as his friend visibly bounced off of someone's helmet, and the mental image lifted his spirits. _Right, Tails. Less thinking, more flying_. Sonic was right; he really did need to switch off his brain and get out more.

Especially because, as always, he was worrying about the wrong thing. He dove for the ground, grinding his hip into the ash and the soil as purple beams crackled out from behind him. Great, now the train guards had gotten into the action, and they seemed much more interested in actually hitting their targets. Or anything in between, like yellow fox kits with two tails. Just as an example. _Take Amy's advice and stop worrying, Tails_._ You can't do anything about it anyway_.

He'd have to ask one of the Downunda soldiers about their orders – or their training – after the battle. He'd been flat on his tails for five seconds and yet they seemed determined to place their shots everywhere he _wasn't_. Of course the bouncing blue wrecking ball might have something to do with that, but these weren't Eggman's machines and so could presumably lead a moving target. A dull thud punctuated the sharp cracks of the energy weapons behind him and something dug a tail-sized hole out of the outcropping. Tails shivered as he scrambled to his feet. No, their "allies" definitely weren't holding back.

There was much less gunfire from the Downunda side now, and their aim was even worse than before. That was just the prelude to the next new element of the battle. Something behind the ridge – or perhaps in among the rocks since Sonic hadn't hit it yet – started coughing and little grey orbs hurtled through the air towards the positions the Soleannans had just taken. _This_ soldier was actually aiming. Not only did the grenades fly directly towards the guards on the reverse side of the twisted train but one came sailing squarely at the flying fox. He ducked a foot or so and shifted to the right, letting the clockwise spin of his tails slap the shell back the way it had come, and he was once again hurled to the ground as it erupted into a deafening roar only a few yards away.

But that was all it did, and for all that his hearing would probably never the same again Tails had been on both sides of enough explosions by now to know that had just been a pale imitation. As he got aloft once more he made out three or four drably outfitted figures running towards the next hill over, screened by the stunning blasts of their presumably abandoned grenade launcher. Sonic spun off in another direction, receding even more rapidly than the enemy. Tails shrugged and smiled wryly. He hadn't thought about it – he'd been a little busy – but given a choice between coming into town alongside Amy as a criminal and showing up later on his own terms, there was really only one thing he'd have done in Sonic's place. In fact, the young fox's emotions clamored for him to take off running after his big brother, but he still had Amy and the war to think about. These people were going to learn the truth about the Metarex if it killed him, and if they'd just give him that he could deal with whatever they threw at him.

He owed it to Cosmo.

* * *

Tails eased his way back into the train, carefully skirting the twisted edges of Amy's makeshift door. "You didn't leave any for me," she pouted. Tails shook his head in resignation. Leave it to Amy Rose to feel left out of something like that.

For himself, he was incredibly grateful to Sonic for cleaning up before he even got across the battlefield. He didn't really trust himself in combat after the incident with the helicopter crew, and he hadn't had a chance to talk it over with Sonic either. _Because you were too busy making Amy think about Cosmo's death_._ She even told you she gets through by forgetting that_! Great, and now _he_ was thinking about it again, and Amy's trick definitely wasn't working.

The memories flickered through as vividly as ever. The sparkling cherry tree that had been his friend a minute before, the golden glow that had always meant safety before, his collapse into his ship as his ship collapsed with him. And the seed. _The seed_…. "Amy!"

She looked offended. "What?"

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. It's nothing wrong with you, just...sorry," he said again. "But please tell me you held onto Cosmo's seed for me." Actually that might not be any better, considering it would be stuck in an abandoned house with a seriously irritated officer and who knew how many more raiding parties. _Not helping, Tails_. He gritted his teeth against his own thoughts as Amy collected hers.

"Um, no, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Cream had it when we left, but why are you – oh, right, that was after you collapsed again. Sorry!"

"No, that's all right." Tails waved off her apology with a hand and both tails. Cream was probably the single person he trusted the most with that seed, and between her and Cheese he knew no one could do anything to it before the next time he saw her. The little plant was a faint hope at best, but it was still _a_ hope, and he needed all he could get these days.

His thoughts were abruptly cut off when the squirrel engineer from earlier barged into the coach. "What are you doing here?" She shook her head abruptly. "Never mind. Where's Sonic?" She paused just long enough for Tails to start putting a response together. "Never mind that too, I can guess. Well, the 'rail's not running again anytime soon, so we're stuck either calling for another transport or legging it." She raised a hand before the fox could get a word in. "And no, before you ask, you can't fix it. I'm sure you could make repairs, but that wouldn't get it back on the rail or get the power going again." And he thought _his_ brain ran fast….

Boots clattered across the twisted plating behind her. "You all right?"

Wait a minute, Tails _knew_ that voice. He hadn't heard it in years, but if he wasn't very much mistaken it belonged to one of Sonic's long-ago friends. Now to see if he could get the pronunciation right this time. "Bunnie? Bunnie Rabbot – um, do I have that right?" he said, spreading his arms out beseechingly.

"Was my Spagonian accent that bad?" A weatherworn brown head poked into the room as a large metal claw punched through the partition for support. Tails knew better than to be afraid – that was just a relic of one of Eggman's earliest attempts at bridging the gap between life and machine, and it had warded off the bullies on his behalf more than once.

"What accent?" Tails replied with a laugh. "I wasn't sure if anyone had made it out of the kingdom between the Metarex and," he waved aimlessly around him, "everything else. It's good to see you again."

"We've got Geoffrey of all people to thank for it, too," the squirrel said, and Tails fell neatly on top of Amy as he suddenly made the connection.

"You – you aren't – but you've got to be – no –" Tails doubted he was going to be coherent again anytime soon. Mercifully Bunnie stepped into the gap.

"You got it. Geoffrey got the Princess and me out of the capital and down here before it all came apart."

"Speaking of things coming apart," the squirrel – Princess Sally of House Acorn; Tails thought he had that right – spoke up, "We're still stuck on this wreck even after I gave you all the chance to run. I guess it wasn't much of a chance though." Her voice made an astonishing transition from arrogant to depressed in two sentences, which had to set some kind of record. Tails reached out with his namesakes as he always did in times of trouble, and the princess looked at him gratefully. "Maybe it's for the best that you stayed after all. I'll see what strings I can pull to get you off whatever hook Sonic landed you on."

"Hey, it wasn't Sonic's fault!" Tails's denial was automatic and enthusiastic. "I mean, I didn't try to stop it or anything, and he and Amy were just looking out for me."

"Come off it, Tails, you didn't protest because you were out cold all day!" Wait a second, had Amy just sided with him? Against _Sonic_? Even if it had seemed remotely possible he still wasn't sure propping himself up at his brother's expense was something he was comfortable with.

So he changed the topic instead. "Um, Your Highness? Majesty?" He looked at Bunnie beseechingly, but the princess spoke up first.

"Sally is fine. I'd rather not say my title out loud more than I have to."

There probably weren't that many ground squirrels named Sally in this part of the world either, especially not ones who travelled alongside half-machine rabbits with names that formed even worse puns than his did. Not to mention the train had just been attacked, and given the enemy's woeful accuracy he no longer thought they had been there for _him_. That said, Tails had a more important issue with the princ – with _Sally_'s last statement. "This is Geoffrey St. John the skunk you're talking about, right? Because he's gone back to working with Downunda."

"Of course he has," Sally replied matter-of-factly. "How else do you think I was able to let them know which train to raid so quickly?"

It took two full minutes minute for that sentence to make sense, and then Tails was left scraping his jaw off the wall. "I say again," he mumbled dazedly, "who _thinks_ like that?" And he'd thought the double bluff with the helicopter had been bizarre; seriously, where would anyone get the idea to attack _themselves_ in order to stage a prison break? It made no sense!

"You'd be surprised what Geoffrey and I can come up with when we put our heads together. Or knock other heads together, situation demanding." The fox wasn't sure he wanted to know whose heads she meant there, especially not with his sinking suspicion that he was about to meet some of them. "Bunnie, I'm going to go round up the escorts and tell them to bring in the prisoners Sonic left for us. You keep these two company for a bit. It's too late for them to run off anyway," she sighed heavily, that edge of pain seeping back into her voice, "so it's time for another plan."

* * *

Tails had always wanted to visit Soleanna. All of the university-city-states of Spagonia sounded fascinating, but Soleanna's trading had given it the legs to stand apart from its neighboring country. And then, of course, there was the semi-mythical Zero Point Energy project. No one outside the project knew how it worked, and the theories ranged from artificial Chaos Emeralds to some sort of enslaved space-time god, but what _was_ clear is that on its own it produced more electricity than the rest of the continent combined. The cooling towers rose out on the strand to the south, obscured behind a pall of smoke and the occasional purple flash.

The fox sighed to himself. Yes, he'd always wanted to visit, but not during a war, and definitely not as a suspect – even if Bunnie had promised him Sally knew where the bodies were buried with the Defense League. And then there was the whole "Professor Lord Regis is actually a human" thing. Tails wasn't sure which part of the situation confused him more.

Amy was unburdened by all his troubles, instead squealing with joy at all the neon lights and flashing signs in the business district. The ash fell here as well – there definitely had to be a brushfire blazing somewhere – but even so close to twilight life clearly went on. In fact Tails felt like things were a little too vibrant, as if to make up for everything else around them.

Then, as the cheering started, he started to realize why. He and Amy had been allowed to poke their heads out of the top hatch of their armored transport, but he had been so distracted by the buildings that he hadn't taken a good look at his escort. There had only been a handful of light tanks and maybe twelve foot troops riding their flanks when they picked him up, but somehow that had blossomed into what had to be half the Soleanna Defense League, all sleek lines and looming double barrels, and they were all trundling double-file down the thoroughfare in an impromptu parade. Or maybe the parade had been scheduled and he and Amy just happened to be there at the wrong time. Or maybe it was meant as an escort and just happened to boost morale on its way through. The fox sighed. Just once on this trip he'd like to be certain about _something_ while it was still going on.

Well, if nothing else they had probably just accidentally ducked a prison sentence, although that raised the question of what they'd have to do instead. They were riding with Soleanna's military right now, and Tails rather doubted that all those people were cheering and applauding because they thought he'd leave them behind at the first opportunity. And come to think of it, he didn't think he would have anyway. The army had enough soldiers; he could find some other way to help out. Some way that didn't involve pulling a trigger.

That was when the siren went off. Tails knew it instinctively – after all, it was the same sound he had used back at his workshop. He immediately started scanning the skies as the people on the sidewalks walked with disconcerting calm towards what the fox assumed were bomb shelter hatches. His stomach churned as he recognized the ease of long experience. _I've got to end this soon_. _It's obviously gone on too long_.

The turrets on the vehicles behind him started to traverse, but most of them were heavy cannons rather than anything that might work against aircraft. "Fox-boy, on the guns!" Tails didn't know who the voice in the truck belonged to, and right now it didn't matter. Part of him wanted to comply, to do what the unknown man said and not dig his hole any deeper, but he found himself physically unable to move closer to the double-machinegun braced in front of him. Amy had already popped back down and he desperately wished he had joined her.

"I can't" he said – whispered, really, since his voice had fled along with all his strength and energy. Someone downstairs clearly heard him, since he was grabbed roughly by the leg and hauled down the ladder. He knew there were going to be bruises everywhere by morning, but right now he was so grateful for being replaced that he didn't have room to resent his rough treatment. Besides, he _had_ let them all down, after all.

There was an eerie silence for what felt like hours but couldn't have been more than fifteen, twenty minutes. _Funny how that happens even when you _aren't_ thinking too hard, Tails_. The cat who had stepped up to the guns swung around audibly in the cupola, but everyone else was holding their breath and sitting as still as they could manage. Tails spread one tail out to Amy and the other to Sally, who had edged in closer to him after he sat down. He felt their shoulders relax and calmed down a little himself. He might not be able to protect them from whatever was attacking the city, but he could still be their shield in a lesser way. The thought brought a small smile to his face, and he closed his eyes and let his head loll forward as he waited for whatever would come.

The violence arrived in small spurts, and as explosions rattled the transport Tails was reminded uncomfortably of summer squalls. But instead of lightning outside someone was dropping some fairly significant munitions and thus was much more likely to actually hit him, especially since he was trapped on the ground inside a metal can that suddenly seemed to suffocate him. So why did that make it _less_ frightening than the storm would have been? The resigned humor of thought caught him off guard and took his mind off whatever was happening outside.

As quickly as the noise had started it was all over, and Tails was already up and scrambling for the exit hatch by the time the gunner called "Everybody out!"

He hadn't encountered an equivalent for the human concept of Hell in any of the mythologies Amy had asked him to study, but it didn't need to be part of their religious tradition to be sitting on the pavement in front of him. The red neon signs were eclipsed by the roaring flames that had once been an armored column, and Tails screwed his eyes shut against the infinitely-mirrored glow in the thousands of skyscraper windows. Still, he couldn't close his ears to the moans and the screams and the – _Don't categorize it, you idiot, go _do_ something_!

He forced himself to survey the scene as dispassionately as he could. Whoever had hit them had limited their attack to the parade remarkably well, but there was inevitably some scatter. The buildings nearby still stood, mercifully – probably engineered against heavy floods, considering the terrain – but considering some of the fires both inside and out they had to be weakening fast. There was a tower just behind their carrier that had taken a hit to its ground floor, and Tails couldn't help but think that shot had been meant for him. Even if he didn't have to make that up to whoever was still inside, its weakened foundation made it his highest priority anyway. He started loping towards the building with long leaping strides supported by his tailspin. Only _started_, though, because the cat gunner caught his tailtip and he slowed down immediately before he could hurt the poor man.

"Military gets priority. We don't have enough resources; got to salvage what we can." The cat obviously wasn't buying his own argument, so Tails felt perfectly content to ignore it. He yanked his tail out of the man's grasp, leaving behind a ragged tuft of white fur, and took off running for the building without bothering to reply.

* * *

The heat inside was on par with the glassworks for sheer lung-punching intensity, but what made it worse was the smoke. There was a ragged hole in the floor tiles where, according to the miraculously undamaged signpost, a receptionist's desk had once stood, and the walls and ceiling smoldered around him. Still, the fire was less devastating than he had expected and the heat was mostly being magnified by the close quarters instead of produced by the fire. That didn't make walking through it any easier, so Tails wound one tail around in front of his mouth to filter the smoke as best he could and drove himself onward. If he could find a fire extinguisher or the suppressor system he could buy all the time in the world to rescue anyone trapped upstairs.

If. The first extinguisher he found was already scalding hot even through his gloves and he dropped it with a clatter. It was a desperate thought, but he kicked the big metal cylinder into the nearest cluster of flames and ducked his ears as he dropped into the lower level. A muffled thump came from above as it overpressurized and exploded, and tufts of superheated foam drifted down to scorch the fox's shoulders. He cautiously peeked over the crater's lip – the flames had definitely gone down where the can had been, some parts even outright extinguished, but there were now even more hotspots. _Perfect_.

He had no idea how to trigger the fire control systems, if this building even had them, and with the flames starting to spread again he knew he was running out of time. His treacherous imagination showed him the cascade effect as this tower snapped and leaned into its neighbor, shedding burning debris all around it and starting the same scenario all over again in the next streets over, and _you don't have time for this, Tails, you have to fix it now_! But what did he have that he could use? Without anything around to smother the flames – and rolling in them was out of the question – all that was left was to mess with the air pressure. Except the building was open to the air, which made that just as likely to backfire as to do anything productive. He prided himself on his lung capacity, but even for him it was starting to burn from the smoke and the ash.

_Ash. Ash doesn't burn._ Maybe he had something to dump on the fire after all.

Whatever had been burning, and Tails was no longer convinced it was just a brushfire, had left a nice blanket outside. It was thin, it was slimy, but most importantly it wasn't _flammable_, and the tiny particles actually made things easier for the fox. Of course, bracing himself so he didn't just rocket out of the building would be a little tricky. That was mostly because the only good handhold was over the door, which was of course the same level the smoke was collecting at. This wasn't going to be pleasant, but it was still better than the alternative, and the little fox wound up his tails tightly as the sliding door cranked open in front of him and he latched onto the sensor bar.

He immediately felt the smoke clog his lungs and his throat, and for all his retching he couldn't dislodge it. But that didn't matter, couldn't matter, not while he still had the breath and the energy to drag the ash in.

By luck more than judgment his mouth was shielded from the ash he was sucking into the room and his spinning tail dispersed the worst of the smoke. His eyes, throat, injuries; everything stung and scratched, but the worst of it was over. He hung there over the door vacuuming up the dust and ash from the street outside for nearly five minutes before he started to flag, and he reminded himself that he still had to spread it all around. There was nowhere near enough after all, but hopefully he could make up the difference with his downdraft. Or maybe he could vary it, fly for loops and switch up the air currents. He knew he'd come up with something.

By the time he touched down and immediately curled up in a little black ball on the floor Tails was no longer certain _what_ he had come up with, only that through the frustration and the fatigue he had made it work. Now all he wanted to do was wrap his tails around his muzzle and _sleep_. Where was the adrenaline that was supposed to keep him going at times like this? He knew naptime would have to come later, much later, though, since this building was far from the only one that had been ablaze, and Emeralds only knew how badly the fires from the convoy had spread. His own problems had to wait.

The first thing he noticed as he staggered outside was the strange breeze that pressed even more char into his already matted fur. The air itself was wonderfully cool and refreshing, but at the same time it was forcing even more smoke at him, and that was getting to be more than he could take. And then there was…wait, was that _water_?

Tails looked up through reddened eyes. There above him were a solid half-dozen helicopters, their bellies swollen with massive water tanks, enthusiastically spraying down every flame they could reach. Like the soldier had told him they were focused on the burning wreckage of the armored column, but two of them were dowsing the skyscrapers instead. Just for a minute Tails leaned back against the still-warm doorframe, then he shook himself off and forced himself to join the other rescuers in the sky.

He still had work to do.


	12. Breaking Point

Cold air batted at Tails's damp fur as he woke up. Once again he felt the echo of an entire night's thoughts, but even with all of that he still couldn't remember more than some blurry images from last night. Of course, the world right now was a blurry image too, so that might be why. There was a soothing light all around him, soft white on sky-blue walls, and as sensation leaked back in he realized that he was once again in a foreign bed, once again under a regulation-crisp sheet, and once again and most irritatingly missing his shoes and gloves.

The next thing he felt was the itch. His palms were the worst, feeling like he had let them sit in a hornet's nest, but his back, his tails, his shoulders, and little spots almost everywhere else had similar pains. What _had_ he been doing last night? The last thing he could remember was flying up to meet some helicopters after – oh!

The fox sat up, or rather tried to. His legs and tails didn't even respond, and his arms were so limp they seemed to tire him out just by existing. He could keep his eyelids open with effort – although oddly he felt no urge to go back to sleep either – and that was about it. Man, when Sonic saw him he was going to throw a fit.

"Hey, Tails," a soft voice said from just over his shoulder. He hadn't heard Amy sound that gentle since…well, maybe around Cosmo, although he wasn't sure. "How'd you sleep?"

"Terrible," he said bluntly. Well, muttered. His throat was somehow even drier than it had been in the desert, and that had been when he'd gone on maybe ten cups of tea plus his shower for three days. And that wasn't even mentioning the congestion. Yeesh, not even the sandstorm had done this much to him. "Got no energy."

"Oh, Tails." Amy leaned over him and planted what she probably imagined was a motherly kiss on his damaged ear. Tails didn't have the energy to be embarrassed. He was too busy using it to take in Amy's appearance – her blouse was blackened and shredded, her hands were bare and chafed, her eyes were shot through with red – basically, she looked the way he felt. The only difference was that she was upright and he could barely feel his legs.

"I don't blame you for still being exhausted," she told him. "You were working with the rescue crews way after I fell asleep. I think the last time I saw you was that time you had me break a window so you could get the people down." The fox just stared at her blankly. He felt like that was something he would have remembered. "I mean, Bunnie said that even she called it a night before you did, and she's half robot! So you're just going to lie there until you've got your strength back."

"I'm sorry, Miss Rose, but he's not. He is, however, going to force fluids for another two or three days." Tails knew that voice but didn't have enough focus to place it. "I'm sorry to see you again like this, Tails, but we've got dozens of other burn victims who need the bed space."

"Doctor…Constantine?" That sounded right, although it would take a miracle for anyone to understand him.

The other fox stepped around into view, red fur around his eyes the only thing visible under his work clothes. "I'm honored you remember me. I've had a lot of honors over the last day or so." From the set of his shoulders Tails could tell he was about thirty seconds away from toppling onto the bed himself. "That air raid was murder in every sense, but at least Soleanna decided to grab every doctor on its list while the Oriental Union was refueling."

"Oriental what?" If Tails thought he could speak he would have asked the question himself, but Amy seemed to have a handle on things.

"The enemy. Downunda mostly, plus Adabat – which I guess is _technically_ still its own state – and then the transit rights they're getting from Chun-Nan and the 'volunteers' out on Dragon Road off the coast. Gave themselves a fancy name to hide the fact that Downunda's just trying to claw its way into relevance. I guess I'm doing the same in Shamar, but not…not like this." Constantine leaned heavily on Tails's bed and Tails pressed his tails against the older fox's wrists through the sheet. It was a soft touch but it had the effect they both needed.

"Doctor, Sonic knows. Knows about you and my information," Tails ground out.

The other fox's head crashed onto his chest. "I knew it was going to happen eventually. Please tell him I did it for money – the money to buy some real equipment and hire a staff for my clinic. That's all I can really say."

"I understand." Tails patted the doctor fractionally. "I'd do the same thing." Probably. "I'll tell him."

"Thanks." Constantine's voice had fallen to a whisper, but then he cleared his throat and straightened up. "Not that I'm not grateful – for everything," he added with a new smile that gave Tails a little energy, "but we really do have more people waiting for a spot in Recovery than we know what to do with." Tails gritted his teeth as best he could. He wanted to get up and make room, of course, but like always what he wanted and what he was physically capable of were completely separate things. "You can lean on Miss Rose on your way out. I hope I run into you again when we're both awake, all right?" The doctor clapped him on the shoulder, pulling out all the force as he remembered Tails's burns, and helped ease the fox upright and off the rolling bed. Then he was gone, vanishing into the maelstrom of activity that the exhausted kit was just now noticing.

Amy held out her arm for him and Tails took it gratefully. "One step at a time," she reminded him. If Tails wasn't mistaken she had actually thought about that for a moment, like she was playing the mother role in one of her fairy tales, and that thought gave him another little shot of focus. "We're going to a foot bridge up on the ninth floor. I was told to take you there once you woke up. Boy, you're cold today, Tails. I guess it is kind of chilly in here."

"No argument here," the fox mumbled, and Amy caught his other shoulder and propped him up. Normally this much contact from someone who wasn't Sonic would have left him blushing, and _needing_ this much contact would have been even worse, but he could only be thankful that Amy was there with him. "I really…." _Underestimated you_. "Thanks for everything, Amy."

Then he leaned back into her supporting arms and let her steer him through the hospital, heedless of how he stubbed his toes and chafed his soles on the tile. That would have taken more energy than he had left.

* * *

Amy shook Tails awake. Again. It was starting to get irritating – although exactly _what_ was, he couldn't decide. Part of him wanted her to go away and let her sleep, but another part remembered he had things he needed to be awake for. Like some sort of meeting in this big office, at least theoretically. He resentfully pulled his face out of his tail fluff and suddenly came as close to upright as he felt he could manage as he saw a wolf and a human seated and staring at him. All right, this time he could spare enough energy to be ashamed. This was an awful first impression to make on his pen pal.

And an even worse second impression to make on Captain Pietro. It was the wolf's look of disdain that really drove home how much he needed to focus right now, and even as his vision blurred and swam he tried to lock down who was saying what.

"So glad you could join us, Miles." That voice was a reedy, several-octaves-too-high imitation of Professor Pickle's, which meant it probably belonged to the Lord Professor. "I understand you're still recovering from the last two days. As, I'm sure, does our mutual friend here."

"I do. I was, ah, not present at the incident myself after our earlier meeting. I've since been shown the media and security footage. Repeatedly." He nodded at the Lord Professor, and if his expression was doing anything interesting Tails couldn't make it out. "Consider your debt to society paid. Yours as well, Amy." First-name basis already? Tails must have slept through the introductions.

"We'd appreciate more of your help. I'll understand if you decline, of course." Regis was remarkably animated, to the point where even bleary-eyed Tails could see his coattails fluttering behind him. "But last night was meant to be a celebration of our survival, and it very nearly killed us."

"What the Lord Professor is asking is, 'Will you help us make our defenses stronger?' Or just win the war for us, either works." At least the wolf was straightforward about it.

Tails planted his palms on the resin tabletop and rested his chin on his knuckles. "I don't know," he slurred. "I need more to work with. I don't know what's going on or what you've already got. Plus I'd love to learn what's really going on at Zero Point."

"I'll give you what I can, considering. No Zero Point, though. That's a trade secret." Pietro seemed like he was forcing himself to be nice, but as long as he had to be he was throwing himself into the role. "Mostly I'd like you to focus on disaster relief or our - wait one." He held a wrist up to his ear. "Standard routine. Set off the limpets at sixty meters out." Then he wheeled on his imagination savagely as if the voice in his ear could see him. "Their dreadnought's doing what? That's not supposed to – bah. I guess they'd have to find someone with a brain eventually. Right, detonate at thirty and have the undersea fleet stand down. I'll get our new consultant working on it."

The wolf took a few deep breaths before turning back to the table. "I apologize. There's a new batch of landing craft at Zero Point, but they're having their flagship shell our kill zone. They're this close to figuring out our, ah, minefield." For some reason he chuckled, and Tails doubted he'd have understood the reason even if he'd been awake. "We've got a reasonable submarine fleet, and it's been seeding their landers with contact explosives. Unfortunately, they're actually sweeping our nonexistent minefield now, which means we can't pretend they're just stumbling into it this time."

It might have been the fatigue, but that whole idea made no sense to Tails. "Why not just lay mines? If you absolutely have to, I mean?" Maybe the bombs they were using would just scuttle the ships, not completely destroy them. That would be a good enough reason, wouldn't it? _See, you've got some energy_. _You're thinking again already_!

Pietro adopted a patient tone, like he was talking to a slow child. Which was absolutely true at the moment, come to think of it. "Because you can _sweep_ mines. The way these people think they're doing right now. Besides, we would need more explosives than I'm willing to sign for to mine the entire approach. This way is much more efficient."

Tails still wasn't convinced, but maybe it would make sense to him in the morning. "But you're still going after the wrong targets, right? It wasn't their army that blew up the parade last night."

Regis looked directly at him. The fox could tell by the way his monocle glinted. "…Two nights ago." Tails moaned. That was twice in four days! "And that wasn't supposed to happen. We were hoping to draw in their aircraft, but the captain tells me our defenses were saturated by planes from the northern force. We had to leave the convoy exposed; it was the harder target and in easy reach of our first responders. Like you, in fact."

Okay, that was unpleasant but it made sense. Tails knew he'd probably have tried to cover both and inevitably lost everything, but at least he hadn't had to make the decision. "It was still their planes, though, right? So why aren't we going after their aircraft carriers, or their airstrips, or whatever it is they've got?"

"Does the child think we haven't thought of that?" Pietro was talking to the Lord Professor, not to him, and Tails bristled through his lethargy. He might be a child, and he might be half-asleep, but he was still smarter than that! Why else would they be forcing him to stay awake right now?

"Miles, I am afraid the capital ships of Downunda are simply too big. They've made up for their inefficient systems with sheer size and brute force, and their crews are enormous. We could plant charges on every inch of their flagship's hull and they'd still have enough men and material to patch it up before more than a meter of water got in."

"A _cubic_ meter," Pietro clarified in a tone so dry even Tails had to laugh.

Even so, and despite his condition – and seriously, neither of these people cared? _You're being selfish again_. In any case, he thought he had a solution. "Funny thing is, you're trying too hard." It really must be funny, at least to him, because he started giggling uncontrollably. "You don't need to _sink_ them, do you? Just make it so they can't fight you anymore." Even Amy was giving him a confused look, and he figured it was the strangeness of his semidelirious logic that was tripping everyone up. "Look, what is it that Soleanna's got?"

"Money," Amy replied without skipping a beat, and Tails rolled his eyes. The motion gave him a headache.

"Right, but what do you have that no one else does."

Regis nodded, monocle flashing on and off. "Energy. My beloved Zero Point."

Tails's head bobbed enough to move his bangs, although that was about it. "Right. And modern planes don't do that well without their electronics, right? So go from there."

"Downunda doesn't have any modern planes," Pietro said as sardonically as before. "But I take your point. Milord Professor?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm sure my teams can put together a working electromagnetic pulse device in a few hours if I tell them to get right on it. Are your submariners up for the job?"

"If they aren't I'll crack some heads until that changes," the wolf promised. "If I may?"

Regis waved his arm airily. "By all means, Captain. And thank you, Miles. You've been an enormous…." He trailed off as he saw Tails's head nod down onto the table and two furry tails curl around it in a cushion. "Thank you," he said again before clearing his throat and hurrying off. Only Amy was left, but Tails was beyond caring.

* * *

Amy shook Tails awake. Again. At least this time she'd let him have his nap – in fact, late morning sun had faded down to evening, not that there was any spectacular sunset through the omnipresent ash – and even though he was still asleep on his feet he could at least see things as more than big blobs of color. Of course, more detail meant more distractions too, and his abused eyes skittered from surface to surface before finally settling back in his tails.

"Tails!" Okay, she definitely wanted something urgently. "Tails, they're coming back. You'd better –"

"Better do what, Miss Rose?" Captain Pietro growled. He stalked back into the conference room and slammed the door behind him. "Leave? Run away? Again? He's supposed to be a hero; let him _show_ it for once." It seemed like that Chaos-twisted reputation was why he was so resentful. Tails sympathized to some extent – he'd really rather go through life as a regular person instead of some superhero and sidekick to Sonic the Hedgehog, assuming he got to keep his big brother.

"Captain, I know I can be a disappointment, but I'm sure you can see I'm not at my best right now." Actually, Tails was sure he could _hear_ it; the fox's voice was still that curious blend of slurred and guttural between his fatigue and the smoke inhalation. And how was he still functioning on this high a level after breathing in all that smoke, anyway? Considering how fast he breathed when he was flying that should have killed him. He could worry about that later – Pietro was pounding his fists on the table and it was bucking up into Tails's chin.

"Disappointment? You're a disaster." His level tone was a spine-tingling contrast to his scowl and his movements. "We sent out sixteen submarines, each with a thirty-two person crew, to try things your way. Guess how many came back. Go on, _guess_!" The wolf dropped all pretenses of civility on the last word and Tails shrank back into his chair.

It wasn't Pietro either, although the captain was certainly frightening. No, Tails could already tell how badly he had just hurt Soleanna. He couldn't have known any of those sailors but he still felt it claw at him. Never mind how removed he had been from the whole operation, it had still been his brilliant pacifist idea that had sent them all out to drown. His shivers set the whole table rattling uncontrollably as he imagined it; the tiny hulls and their fragile air pockets suddenly turning from refuge to inescapable trap, lungs filling with water instead of air, light fading from the surface, and all the while that sense of utter failure. No wonder Sonic was so afraid to go into anything deeper than the bathtub!

"What can I do?" Tails asked softly. "There has to be something."

"There is." Pietro's fangs were showing, but by now that was a given. He reached behind him and produced what looked like a sleeping bag sack. "Your turn, fox."

Tails looked at the bag without comprehension for a moment, but then confusion became resolution. "Right. Right! I'll do my best, Captain." There wasn't any other option.

"I'm glad," the wolf replied sardonically. "You'd better not be here when I get back. And if I see another enemy plane this time tomorrow I will be...most displeased." He certainly picked the right word; somehow the thought of letting him down now terrified Tails more than any threat he could have made.

The fox considered asking how the devices worked or what he was actually supposed to do with them, but he couldn't stomach Pietro thinking any lower of him than he already did. He was supposed to be a savant with machines, so he'd figure it out on his own, right? That would probably have been the wolf's answer too. Instead Tails rolled out of his warm plastic chair and, with Amy's help, doddered off down the hall and back into the outside world.

This was going to hurt.

* * *

"For the last time, Amy, this is something I have to do." Tails had to prop his hands on his knees to stand alone, but at least he was doing it. The ash made an unpleasant film on his bare toes, mixing with the dull grit of the sand into something he was sure would be painful if he wasn't about to go wash it off.

"And for the last time, _Tails_, you and that idiot captain are both insane. How is this your fault? Chaos, you were asleep when they threw the plan together. And you ought to be asleep now! So put that sack down and rest." She pulled out her hammer. "Even if you absolutely have to go through with it at least wait until you can actually fly out there and get back alive."

Tails shook his head at her. "Amy, even with that eight-hour nap I took I'm still just as tired as I was this morning. Waiting's not going to help; it's just going to get more people hurt. And worse." _Some of those people_, he carefully did not add, _are even ones we know_. The thought of Cream trapped in a burning building…no. He couldn't distract himself like that, not now. "I'm going to swim, not fly. I'm pretty buoyant – must be all the fur," he said with a hollow attempt at a laugh that made Amy wince. "Sorry, but it's true. Anyway, I'm going to swim out there. If," _when_, "I have to take a break I can let myself drift."

"Tails, you're certifiably insane," Amy told him. "And Sonic's going to kill me if he finds out I let you go drown yourself." She suddenly lunged out and hugged him. "So don't. I'll work with Regis, he seemed like a nice man. We'll try to send someone out and pick you up when you're done." She gave him a wink and a coquettish grin. "If you get back fast enough Sonic'll never have to know." By the time she let him out of the hug Tails was sure she could use his cheeks as a nightlight. He stumbled towards the water faster than he probably should have, waterproof bag of bombs clattering along behind him. Maybe the seawater could cool him down.

He plunged in running. The sand was agreeably soft beneath his feet, all the ash clinging to the top of the water, and the bag bobbed to the surface behind him. Pietro had been looking out for him after all! He'd have to thank the captain once he made it back to town. The hard part would be getting out past the surf, and with the bag tied around his wrist his usual breast-stroke was impractical. Of course, he had more than one way of getting through the water, and the surf fanned out behind him as he spun his tails through the water. After a moment they went limpid and then stopped altogether, but considering he had to duck a wave anyway that was all right. This was going to be tiring and frustrating, the sort of one-step-forward-two-steps-back project that drove him crazy, but at least he knew that going in. And he didn't intend to let that stop him.

Instead of thinking about the tedium of being dragged back ashore by his cargo, Tails started to consider his options for getting the bombs aboard. The detonator was visibly waterproof, the sort of thing he'd seen in a history movie back on Earth, so he'd stowed it in his tail fur alongside Sonic's screwdriver. He could probably swim slowly from ship to ship once he was out there, but that would mean putting the charges out in the water and he didn't know if they were up for it. He'd have to actually climb up out of the water, unroll his bag, and plant each device manually. He wasn't sure _he_ was up for that, but he'd see when he got there. Yes, he'd see….

* * *

Tails drifted in and out of consciousness, paddling occasionally as the currents carried him inexorably towards the increasingly visible naval blockade. The little fox was dimly aware that he'd long since passed Captain Pietro's time limit, but all he could do now was hope nothing had gone catastrophically wrong in the meantime. He hadn't heard any planes going by, which meant everybody should still be safe. Then again, he realized as gloved hands hoisted him and his precious bag out of the water, he apparently hadn't heard a motorboat pulling up next to him either.

"I thought it was Prower; that fur is fairly distinctive. Well, this is absolutely wonderful." No mistaking that voice. "Well, bring him aboard. If he's alive that's fine, if he's not then dump him over the edge. It'll buy us at least a few days to run before the hedgehog comes after us."

Tails could hardly believe his luck. Geoffrey was actually going to take him to his destination, so no more saltwater and no more pain! The noon sun beat down, drying the salt into his fur, and Tails slipped back into sleep. All the better for his make-believe then, as long as Sonic had lied to him about his snoring.

He didn't come to again until he splashed into the water. "Splashed" was really far too mild a term; "slammed every possible surface against a concrete wall" felt more like it. At least the pain overwhelmed itself and dialed itself back down to numbness instead, and Tails used his few pain-free moments well. He tugged the remote out of his tail fur, wondering how people kept overlooking its obvious usefulness as a hiding place, and pressed the button.

A tingle ran through him a few seconds later, and then there was nothing at all, not even blackness, as the sea closed over his head.

_Sorry, Amy_. _Looks like Sonic'll be mad at you after all_.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, this is what happens when you give me a day off and I accidentally write something I hadn't planned on. The Soleanna arc wasn't supposed to look like this, it was originally going to be much more cerebral, and I for one am happy that I stumbled across the air raid/disaster response event instead of just endless tedious meetings with Pietro and Regis.

On another, similarly happy note, I've passed 50,000 words (53,916 to be exact), which means that even the unedited manuscript version of this thing is long enough for NaNoWriMo standards. Not that I could submit it there, for hopefully obvious reasons, but it gives me hope that I can actually pull the real thing off either this year or next depending on the rest of my workload. In any event, these last 8500 words (today's chapters) were an absolute blast to write, and I hope they're reasonably enjoyable to read too.


	13. Results

Tails woke up. There was something strange about that, he wasn't sure what. He stretched and yawned luxuriously, sand and salt crackling off his fur as he moved, and for all that he was stiff and cold he still felt more alive than he had since…_yesterday_. _Oh, man_.

The little fox's head snapped up. He didn't hurt at all somehow, but memories of his little swim trickled back in faster than he could repress them and he realized he _ought_ to be sore all over. Well, really, he ought to be dead, but it was better not to go there.

Instead he took a look around. He was on a beach somewhere, with no sign of the Spagonian ash cloud. The sand was soft and cool beneath his skin and his fur, what with the sun still hiding under the water somewhere. Behind him there were coarse, craggy hills, a blue hedgehog curled up to give him a pillow, a big grassy field that seemed to demand he go roll in it, and then he was back to the sea. Wait, blue hedgehog! Tails thought about just calling out to his brother or giving him a gentle shake, but his fur was still wet and he couldn't let this sort of opportunity pass by.

"Yahwhat?" A suspiciously fluffy Tails gave the damp Sonic his most innocent look. The hedgehog replied with a shrug and a laugh. "Hello to you too, Tails." He crossed his arms behind his head and settled back into them. "Glad you're back."

_Glad to be back_, Tails almost said. Instead he just curled up against the hedgehog's side, sharing his tail-blankets with his big brother. Everything else could wait for later.

But not too much later. How had he ended up here on this beach with Sonic? It didn't make sense; even if his big brother could swim he'd never have known where to look. "Sonic?" The hedgehog just grumbled and Tails pawed at his shoulders. "Sonic, how'd you find me?"

"Huh?" Sonic rubbed his eyes.

"Just this one question, okay, and I'll let you go back to sleep. But really, how'd you save me? I was out in the middle of the ocean, and next thing I know I'm here with you. Not that I'm not grateful, I just," Tails swallowed hard. The soot of yesterday had all been washed away – which just raised even more questions about his survival. "I just can't believe it."

"Good, 'cause it's not true. I hate to say it, but I wasn't the one who fished you out."

All right, that made sense, but it still wasn't an explanation. "Who did, then?"

Sonic chuckled. "I though you said 'just one question.'" He held up his hands as Tails narrowed his eyes. "Okay, okay, but you won't believe this one either." He took a dramatic breath. "It was Eggman."

"You're right, I don't buy that. Why would Eggman save my life?" _How_ would he, considering the electromagnetic pulse bombs Tails had set off moments before he would have had to arrive. Maybe Eggman had shielding or something, but still it seemed like way too much of a coincidence.

Sonic just shrugged and closed his eyes again. "Beats me. I mean, he just came up in his little flying bowl and dropped you off. Said something about not having a clue what to do with kids. But hey, he's been pretty good about not actually finishing us off in the past. Guess he just can't live without someone to lose to."

That…actually made sense, weirdly enough. Eggman might be their enemy, but he was practically friendly even while they were fighting him, and he and Tails had an arms race rivalry that went back almost to their first meeting. He probably wouldn't want to lose that incentive. "I guess I'll go with that. Thanks, Sonic. Good night."

His brother was already asleep, and it didn't take long for Tails to join him.

Or, of course, for Sonic to wake up again. The fox wasn't deep enough asleep to resent the interruption – not that he'd ever resent Sonic for anything, of course. "Hey, little bro, you up for a run today?"

Surprisingly enough given the last few days, he was. He actually felt like he had gotten some sleep for a change, to the point where his tails were twitching over Sonic right then. "Sure, just let me – oh, right, my shoes are in Soleanna somewhere." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll try to keep up then."

Sonic looked at him with curiosity. "That's it? I know we kept taking your things off to clean them, but still. Every time you've grown out of your shoes you've kicked and screamed until I came along with you to buy the next pair, and you're still holding onto those gloves I gave you way back when."

All true, of course, although Tails hadn't realized he had come across as that clingy to Sonic. _Figures_. "Yeah, well, the nearest shoe store is back in Soleanna and if I'm lucky Amy or someone has the gloves." Maybe Doctor Constantine, he'd have to check after the rush of patients cleared.

"At least you didn't drop them in the water somewhere, that's the important thing," Sonic told him as they started stretching. They started with a light jog, and Tails discovered that he had really kind of missed the feeling of beach sand. Sure, that had been a rough part of his life, but it had also been when he first met Sonic.

By the time he was on the grass and his tails were driving him on, though, he realized there was something wrong. "Sonic, what's up, big bro? I'm not supposed to be in front of you." He actually had to shout – Sonic was still back on the sand, and Tails made a wide turn and loped back.

"Heh, I'm a little distracted, I guess. Plus it's hard for even me to talk when we're both going at full speed."

Tails fell into lockstep with him and they both laughed at his mock march. "Okay, so what's bugging you?"

Sonic stopped laughing, and it took him a minute to reply. "What were you doing out there in the water anyway? I thought I left you in town."

"Long story." Amy had asked him not to share all the details, and after all she'd done for him he wanted to keep that promise. "Hey, um, did you know Bunnie Rabbot was on our train?"

"Nice try, Tails. I'm going to get that 'long story' out of you eventually, you might as well give."

One last try. "I mean it, Sonic. Bunnie was there and so was Princess Sally. They say Geoffrey's still on our side and you really don't care, do you?" Sonic shook his head. "Okay, but you're not going to like this."

"Try me."

Tails couldn't bring himself to look directly at his big brother half the time he was narrating, and probably only the fact that he was moving kept him talking at all. It was natural for him to avoid eye contact at times like this, but when he described his brainwave with the mines and what happened to the submarines he whipped his head around and talked to the flowers and the rocks instead. For his part Sonic just listened, murmuring occasionally to let Tails know he was still there. Honestly, the fox wished he wasn't.

"And I guess after that Eggman picked me up. I don't really know." It was physically painful, but he made himself look over at Sonic. His realization of how he'd driven Knuckles away was front and center in his mind and his neck seemed paralyzed with fear that he'd do the same thing here somehow. The hedgehog slowed to a halt and looked as determinedly away from Tails as the fox had done to him.

"I should have hit that wolf harder. He didn't get the message." Was Sonic shaking? That wasn't supposed to happen! "I warned him to stay away from you and he tried to kill you anyway."

That wasn't being fair. Tails felt it, now he had to come up with a compelling reason _why_. "Sonic, it's okay! I had to go out and fix my mistake anyway. He didn't force me into anything."

Sonic rounded on him. "Oh come _on_." Tails's namesakes lashed once and then stuck straight up behind him. "How was any of that _your_ mistake? I mean, by that logic – if it counts as logic at all, I don't know – your whole 'fireman' thing was my fault because I left you alone on the train. Speaking of which, sounds like you all were amazing. I kind of wish I had been there."

"No, no, that would have happened if you were there or not. It's not the same." Tails sniffled a little but would not cry, not now.

Sonic made a magnificent snort. "Okay, but it's not like Wolfy wasn't at least a bit responsible. So he should have gone out too, right?"

"Yeah, but he runs things. It would have been worse for everyone if something had happened to him. It wouldn't matter so much if it was me."

"Matter to who?" Sonic's eyes flashed. "Tails, kid, I thought we got over this years ago."

"Matter to Soleanna." Why couldn't Sonic see? It was so simple. "Captain Pietro's in charge. I'm not. I volunteered to fix things as best I could so he could go back to running things smoothly."

Sonic shook his head and growled. "Like he was doing that in the first place. Okay, so that makes you okay with taking the blame for something you weren't even there for? What am I going to do with you, little bro?" Tails was anxiously waiting to find that out himself. "It's not like it's the first time this has come up, either. Is it, Tails?" He shot his eyes sideways and the fox twitched. He wasn't talking about that…no, no, he definitely was.

Tails let his head fall forward, cheekbones heating. "Sonic, I'm really sorry about that. I wasn't thinking straight; I had to pin it on someone else for a day or two while I – I wasn't ready! Not right after –" _Liar_._ You knew exactly what you'd done, you just didn't want the responsibility_.

"That's not what I meant." Sonic actually reached across to him, lifting Tails's chin with one hand and bracing his shoulder with the other. The fox's tails flailed impotently in the dust behind him as his last thoughts grappled with his need for the support his brother was offering. "I'd always been there for you. You expected me to come through again." The hedgehog's voice was unexpectedly husky, but he didn't flinch away. Not like Tails always did. "I didn't, so I needed to hear you say it. But this wolf," he clicked his tongue, sentimental moment past, "he just came up to you and shoveled his mistakes onto you so he could feel better."

"No, stop, that's not it!" Tails couldn't focus, couldn't think, couldn't keep answering these questions!

"Then what is?" Sonic demanded. "I'm not going to know until you tell me, Tails. I'm not," he finally broke eye contact and let go, "good at this kind of thing."

"I don't want to talk about this." Tails's tails were spinning madly behind him, moments away from carrying him to safety. "I don't want to."

"Okay then." Sonic took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll let it go for now. Race you into town?"

"If it's okay with you I'd rather go back on my own. I'm sorry, it's just –" _Just what_? _You know he's trying to help_, _and _you_ keep pushing him away_.

"I'd hoped you'd stay with me. I – I_ want_ to make sure you're doing all right." Tails wondered what his big brother had meant to say. "But hey, I'm not the guy to force you."

Tails's face fell. Again he'd just been thinking about himself. Of course Sonic would be worried; how could he _not_ be after that last little conversation? "Okay, I'll stay close. Don't worry so much, I'm a tough little guy." Sonic had called him that dozens of times so it had to be true.

"That you are," his brother said, but he sounded distracted and his chuckle was a cheap imitation. Tails wasn't in the mood to ask why right now. "Well, let's go. Fly or walk, up to you." And like that the moment passed, and Sonic's eternal grin was back. It was infectious, too, and as it jumped across to his own face Tails felt his mood rising back out of its most recent pit. Even if that conversation had been painful, Sonic was still the most comforting presence the fox had ever known.

Now Tails just had to make sure he didn't drive _him_ away too.

* * *

Sonic had talked about coming into town with a fake limp to emphasize what Tails had gone through. Naturally, that had been when Tails found the single largest and sharpest hunk of basalt in Spagonia and put his bare foot down squarely on top of it. He felt like he was going to be on his tiptoes for weeks, never mind long enough to show off for the captain. Of course, it wasn't like this injury was related and he didn't know that he could pretend it was, but he'd see. If nothing else, the guards posted along the highway seemed sympathetic. Their lasers remained at port and one of them started talking into his headphones while the other offered Tails a supporting arm. The fox gave him a warm smile but gestured to Sonic. He'd be fine.

"Hoo boy, here he comes." Sonic pointed over his brother's shoulder at a quick-moving patrol car with Pietro plainly visible at the dorsal gun. "I'll leave the talking to you unless he gets rough, okay?"

"Okay, Sonic," Tails said with a bit of sullenness. They'd been over this half a dozen times since they saw the Soleanna dust cloud. "I know the plan."

The troopers looked a little suspicious at his wording and he blushed preemptively, and then Pietro dropped down from the turret and slammed his side door open before the car had even fully stopped. He stormed across the pavement at the little fox and Tails froze up, eyes bulging and muscles refusing to run. His tails were the only part of him that still moved, and they arched up over his back in a defensive reflex.

And all of that meant he was utterly unprepared when the wolf scooped him up in a lung-puncturing bear hug. "You little idiot. Oh, you little idiot. I didn't think you'd actually _do_ it! Stars, you're alive. You look _healthy_ too. I don't believe it. I don't believe any of it. Oh, you wonderful little idiot!"

Tails squirmed a little, face sagging. "Uh, that's nice. Can I have my ribs back please?" The pressure dropped off a little. "Thanks, Captain."

Even less pressure now. "Ah, that's Condottiere now. Oh, right, you're an Acorn. Senior Lieutenant. The Lord Professor, ah, didn't approve of what I did to you."

"I'm sorry," and to his own surprise Tails actually was, although he felt Sonic stir beside him and wondered if he should have been. The man had been furious and had certainly overreacted, but if he'd just given Tails the information calmly the little fox would have done exactly the same thing. And besides, he knew perfectly well how stressful it could be to manage and look out for the number of people this poor wolf had to. "I mean…." Then he thought about Sonic's reaction again and lost his nerve entirely.

"Look, fox – ah, Tails – I knew perfectly well that was a suicide mission. I'd just gotten to the point where I didn't think any of your heroic reputation was real anymore. What I did," the wolf swallowed hard, "it was like a kid daring another to do something stupid. Not a commander giving a legitimate order. Save your pity for the people who don't send half-dead children out to do what five hundred trained sailors couldn't."

But Tails couldn't let it lie. He deserved at least some of the blame, after all. "No, it was my idea. My mess to clean up. I told you that back then too, didn't I?"

"Tails, drop it!" Wait, why was _Sonic_ so irritated? "Come on, even I can tell he's hurting over this and I didn't think I'd _care_. Seriously, bro, it's like you and Cosmo – give him space."

All the strength seemed to flow out of him as Sonic's words hit home. Sonic was right, he was always right, and here Tails had been clawing the poor man's wounds wide open. He didn't know of anything else he could say, but he still had his arms and tails and he returned the hug with all six limbs. Pietro set him down awkwardly. "Who's Cosmo?" he asked, voice hoarse.

Finally, a chance. "Promise you'll tell the professor?" Pietro nodded, but his eyes were narrowed to slits. Better make this convincing. "Well, she was, well –" _Come on, Tails_._ You already told yourself you'd do this for her_. "She was special. You know when everything started dying off?" Pietro nodded, but was also looking side to side. "Hey, this part'll interest you, I promise!"

"Right."

"Okay. Well, that was because an alien race drilled into our planet and drained its energy. They wanted to use it to help cover every planet with trees and wipe out anything that wasn't a plant." Wow, if he hadn't lived through all of that he didn't think he'd believe it either. It sounded so much more, well, insane now that he had to articulate it. "Um, anyway, Cosmo was one of them except they'd exiled her, and she crashed next to my workshop right after the Metarex – those are the aliens, by the way – left. They started Forestation – that was when all the trees started popping up a couple months ago, Professor Pickle told me about that – and she helped us," his voice cracked. Better not to go into detail here, he didn't know about Pietro but he didn't think _he_ could get through this part. "She helped us break their defenses. We managed to beat the Metarex and stop Forestation, and then we got back here and, well, kind of tumbled right into the middle of things."

"Right." The wolf raised a sardonic eyebrow. "I don't think you'd lie to me, but you've got a career in fiction. Do us all a favor and don't say any of that out loud to someone on the other side."

Tails's face fell. He knew it sounded unbelievable, but it was still true! Educating people was supposed to make them understand and stop fighting; Chuck had told him that. But now that Tails thought about it the old man had always looked so _tired_ when it came up. Maybe "supposed to" was the key word. But he had to keep trying, if not here than maybe with Geoffrey or someone sympathetic in Downunda. Cosmo had _died_ to stop the Metarex from wiping them out; he couldn't sit around and see them use her as an excuse to do the plants' work for them.

"Well, thanks for listening."

Pietro waved his arms dismissively. "It's the least I could do after the way _you_ listened to me in that conference room. Especially since Scythia and Urbino Universities confirmed the Downunda carrier group steamed out of our channel at about six last night." Tails couldn't help himself – he cheered, even though it was his own plan and really his own work. These people deserved to have _something_ go right for them.

"Hey, don't I get any credit? I spent three days skipping from landmark to landmark cleaning up after you guys." Sonic's tone was jesting but to Tails his question was real, and a wildcat soldier evidently felt the same way.

"Was that you up on White Acropolis? My brother had spotting duty up there. He told me he'd been tracking something right up until the whole mountainside blew up. Sounds like the sort of thing you'd do."

"Well, not the _whole_ mountain. Didn't even get an avalanche out of the deal. Too bad, those are fun to play with." _Only you, Sonic_. _Only you_. "But hey, I figure that means you all get to take a little break."

"So that's why you ran away?" Pietro nodded. "Well, there's no fool like an old fool. Do Acorns use that phrase?"

"Not to senior officers, sir," Tails said as innocently as possible. He was rewarded with an immediate outburst of laughter from everyone present.

The wolf waved them into the city. "We'll be on our guard until we're sure things are calm again. But I misjudged you all and I'm sorry for it – though I don't want that to be enough." Tails wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that, so he let the man continue. "We found the Chaotix detectives – and yes, I know who they are – along with the other survivors you mentioned. We've been too busy cleaning up to bring them in yet, but you have my word they'll be treated as well as we can afford."

Tails smiled gratefully. "Thanks. You know, I never really thought you'd mistreat them." Actually he _had_, and he was sorry it had ever crossed his mind. Pietro might have been in a pressure cooker but that didn't make him a bad man, and he shouldn't have thought otherwise no matter how nasty the man had been at their first meeting. "One more question. Did you or someone else hold on to my things?" He waved down at his bare feet and his limp.

"I, ah…you haven't seen your own news footage, have you?"

Tails wrinkled his nose. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Look, cub, did you ever stop to think about how you had burns on both your hands and feet after playing hero? You melted through the soles of your shoes in one of our tanks, and I'm fairly sure your gloves were char by the time you got out of that first building. The video isn't exactly rich in detail but I could still see you hopping around and clawing your clothes off about a third of the way through."

"Oh." For some reason that hit Tails harder than just about anything else that day, even Pietro's lack of reaction to his Cosmo story. It figured that he'd manage to ruin Sonic's gifts again. Instinctively he reached around for the screwdriver in his tail fur. Somehow it had lasted all the way through his chaotic week intact, and he sighed with relief. At least there was that. "Well, Sonic, you want to come with me and replace them?"

"Sure thing, bud," the hedgehog nodded. "Sure thing."

* * *

They left the checkpoint behind, chatting amicably about nothing in particular. Sonic, naturally, was the first to get bored. "So, where're we off to next?"

Tails stopped walking while he thought. "You know, I kind of want to go straight for Downunda and make them see sense, but somehow I don't think that's going to work too well." Sonic laughed. "I was thinking we look up Angel Island?"

And the laughter immediately stopped. "You think Knucklehead's actually going to want to see us?"

"Hey, don't know until you try, right? Besides, I think I know what's eating him." Tails paused. Maybe he shouldn't have said that – after all, he only had his speculation – but it was out in the open now.

"Yeah? Might be worth a try after all then." Sonic shrugged. "He can be an idiot but I guess I kind of miss him anyway. Besides, Angel Island should be safe enough for you to fix that ear of yours."

Was that still there? Tails flicked his ears experimentally and twitched at the twinge of pain. Yes, yes it was. "Good point. But first I really kind of need to get dressed again. People are starting to stare."

Sonic chuckled and after a moment Tails joined in. He'd have to be sure to say goodbye to Amy before he and Sonic headed off again. Who knew, she might just follow them anyway, and for once Tails wouldn't begrudge her that. And as for the city, he'd finally done his part, and the sheer effort he'd put in – even if he couldn't remember half of it – actually made it feel like he'd _done_ it instead of just relying on everyone else like he usually did. _So, all's well that ends well, right_?

* * *

Author's Note: Well, hopefully that was a nice fluffy chapter after the -storm of the last three, although I'm worried about the coherence of Pietro's character (and yes, he will be showing up again later barring substantial changes to my planned climax). It'll take me longer than I thought to write the Angel Island chapter, however, because two boatloads of character-dump (a relative of info-dump) dialogue back-to-back strikes me as a bit much and I need to decide how to space it out.

On another note, Exploder has kindly informed me that my chapter edits don't get flagged by Favorite/Follow status, which is a wee bit problematic since I've been making continuity, character, foreshadowing, and detail tweaks almost constantly since I published the first three chapters. I'd say hold off another two chapters before doing a blitz reread, though - you'll see why when I get there (cue evil chuckle).

As always, I hope you enjoy.


	14. Way to Fall

"Well, there it is." Sonic waved airily at the flying island just off the southern tip of the Spagonian peninsula. "Hey, Amy, thanks for looking after Tails for me but we've got to go for now."

"Make sure you come back for me soon, Sonic." She fluttered her eyelashes dramatically. Even after all that had happened, she was still the same old Amy when her crush was involved.

"You got your new stuff on tight, Tails?"

"Kind of the wrong time to ask that, considering we just ran all the way along Spagonia in an afternoon." But yes, his new shoes fit perfectly. They were exactly the same size, brand, and especially the same red-white split as before, so that was to be expected. His gloves didn't mesh quite so smoothly – they were too tight through the fingers and too loose around his palms – but then again Sonic had given him the old ones when he was _four_ and they'd been worn so well they'd just been part of his hands by the end of it. And there were the wristbands, black straps Sonic said came from _his_ first pair of shoes, and they'd made the size difference manageable all these years. Amy had at least held on to those, but he almost didn't need them with this new pair. It was the sentiment that mattered; well, that and the comfortable pressure.

"Well, it's getting away from us." The island was indeed slowly drifting south over the sea. "Might as well get going before I have to give Sonic swimming lessons."

"You wouldn't dare."

All three of them shared a chuckle, and as Tails picked his brother up Amy backed off to give them space. "Like I said, we'll be back soon. Don't worry too much."

"Oh, I'm not worried," the girl told them in a voice that filled Tails's heart with dread. "If Sonic doesn't come back to me, I'll just go find him again. That's how this works, right?"

"Tails?" Sonic whispered. "Fly. Fast."

* * *

Angel Island was a magnificent sight. The giant two-ended mountain never failed to amaze Tails, no matter how many times he flew up to it or what angle he came at it from. Right now he felt like he could carry Sonic all the way to the highest permafrosted peak without stopping, and from his brother's exuberant movements he almost wanted to.

The mountains were beautiful, sure, but Tails was still nervous as he rocketed closer. Sonic was spinning from his arms below, taking in the view, and the fox redoubled his efforts as their goal loomed large, but for all he knew they'd find themselves hurled back off by an angry echidna's fist in very short order. He'd seen Knuckles's aim with large rocks, too. If their irritable friend decided he wasn't in the mood for company they might not even get the chance to land before being swatted back down.

Well, there was no incoming fire, but the island seemed to be drifting away from them ever faster and Tails was already flying almost flat out. He'd never figured Knuckles for the passive-aggressive type – plain aggression was always simpler – so it was probably just the Master Emerald messing with everyone again. It really did have a mind of its own, didn't it?

Regardless of the reason, he was almost there, and yet he was no longer gaining ground, and he could feel himself starting to flag. "Sonic, get ready to spin," he said through his panting. Hopefully his brother had heard him. _Okay, Tails, just like you did with the idiot rock the last time you saw it_. He started to swing forward, letting his body rock and his precious cargo gain momentum. If Sonic hadn't heard him he certainly got the idea quickly, and balled up to make the fox's work easier. Finally, at the peak of one of his swings, Tails let go and Sonic rocketed through the air between them and Angel Island, bouncing and skidding a few times before uncurling into his usual three-point landing. He blurred back into motion almost immediately, carving a channel into the soil as he tore off towards Knuckles's shrine.

For his part, Tails was at least able to gain slowly on the fleeing rock again without Sonic's extra weight. Those inches still might as well have been miles for all the good they did him, since he was already flying at full speed and knew he'd have to drop sooner or later. Even without a passenger he couldn't keep this up for more than a few minutes at a time, not without a rest.

But somehow he was doing it, willing himself forward even as all his brain screamed at him to stop. And then, every bit as miraculously, the island slowed down. He could tell it was still moving; in fact it was shifting fast enough that Shamar was on the horizon already. Still, though, he could make the rest of the distance easily now. He flopped up onto the baked dirt, falling into a six-limbed spread-eagle. "Thanks, Knuckles," he mouthed as he gasped for air. Maybe they were welcome here after all.

* * *

"I was wondering when you two would turn up." Same old Knuckles, then. The echidna looked exactly like he had the last time Tails had seen him, red quills groomed as smooth as ever, and the Master Emerald shone like the sun on its ziggurat behind him. "Why now?"

"Why not now?" Sonic asked back, and Knuckles gave the grunt he called laughter.

"Seriously, you two look like death – you especially, Tails. What's been going on downstairs?"

Tails looked at Sonic nervously. "Will you tell him, or should I?"

Knuckles waved a hand dismissively. "If it's that bad I don't have to hear it. That's one reason why I like living up here out of the storms." Angel Island got storms too; Tails knew that from cold, wet experience. But he knew what his friend meant. But then he spoke again, so softly the fox almost felt guilty for hearing it. "At least, I used to."

He couldn't help it. "What's wrong, Knuckles?" This was no time for nicknames, although Sonic probably wouldn't see it that way.

"I was," the echidna replied, squaring his shoulders. "I still can't come up with a way around – around what happened," he said eventually. Tails didn't need any clarification. "And I've been looking for that other option for two months straight."

"I'm sorry, Knuckles. That's supposed to be my problem, not yours."

The grin that split his friend's face set Tails shivering. "Of all the arrogant – I was there too, you know. And I'm the one who goes around calling himself 'guardian.'"

"So split the difference and call it 'our problem,' okay?" Sonic certainly had his timing down. "That's what it is anyway. It's not going to help if we keep fighting over who gets blamed."

The problem there, of course, was that Tails _wanted_ to be blamed, and it sounded like Knuckles felt the same way. Sonic was right, though; arguing about it just made the whole thing even more stressful. "Okay then, let's drop the subject." _Please_. "Um, Knuckles, we got everyone safely to Soleanna." Not that it had been safe when they got there, of course, but he didn't have to say that out loud. "So, ah, there's that." Why was Knuckles staring at him like that?

"Of course you did," he muttered. "Because I was up here."

This time Tails kept quiet. Just about everything he could think of to say would probably backfire after a comment like that.

And Sonic broke the mood again. "So, Knux, you see Tails's new duds?" The fox snickered. He hadn't heard them called that in years – come to think of it, Sonic had said it back then too, hadn't he? "Pretty good choice if I do say so myself."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Really? I hadn't noticed. Is there some story you're trying to tell here?"

"Yeah, guess there is. Tails, you okay with this?"

Tails shrugged. "Sure. It's your story too after all." For whatever reason Sonic gave him a dark look. "What?"

"You know, I think you should tell it after all."

"Actually, I wanted to take a quick walk around the island. If that's okay, Knuckles?" He _really_ didn't like the way this conversation was going.

"You got something to hide, kid?" Knuckles laughed to show he didn't mean it and Tails relaxed fractionally. "Sure, I think we should all go. We could use the distraction."

Tails immediately spun on his toes and loped off into the jungle, the sun on his head and the Master Emerald on his back, and just for a moment he felt truly comfortable. All his troubles were quite literally behind him as he started to run, and he heard his brothers following close on his tails.

* * *

It wasn't long before the fox dropped back to a comfortable chatting speed, and the others slowed down to match him. "So, what was up with the island today? It was really moving."

Knuckles shook his head, setting his braided quills flailing. "I never know. The Master Emerald has a mind of its own." Tails found it amusing how closely that matched his own thoughts from earlier. "Sometimes I think it rushes off to some of the old echidna ruins, but I've never actually gone down to explore. Pity, really, but I've got my duty." He turned that last word into a curse.

"And we're still flying, right? Hey Tails, you think this might be headed to that canyon we were in the other day?"

The fox looked down, as if he could see the terrain from here. If nothing else it let him hop over a protruding root. "Maybe. What can you tell me about echidna ruins in Shamar?"

"What makes you think I know?" At least Knuckles was back to yelling; it had almost killed Tails to see him close to tears earlier. And his monotone was one of the scariest things the fox had ever heard, including his ghost stories. "Probably the same as everywhere else."

"Um. Well, we were in a really narrow ravine. Lot of rocks, dark and spooky. Ring any bells?"

That actually made Knuckles pause for thought. "Sounds about right. Nice and defensible, underground, so that's the practical half. But it's also got some tough rocks and that'd make it almost irresistible to us. You know how competitive I get, Sonic? Now think of an entire civilization like that."

"I'd rather not, thanks," Sonic shot back instantly, and Knuckles laughed. _Good, that's good_. _They're getting along again_. And Tails had actually helped! The simple thought set his head and tails spinning. The echidna was saying something else about the traps and the ghosts, but it wasn't really registering through the sheer joy of the moment.

"Tails! Careful there!" Knuckles's sharp bark wrenched the fox's head out of the clouds. "Remember the fish?"

Tails looked down. A quiet little stream lapped at his new sneakers, formally breaking them in. There weren't any fish to be seen, and he backpedaled frantically while that was still the case. "Yeah, you were pretty clear last time. Sedative teeth and all the bacteria in history, right?"

"Soporific, not sedative – not that there's much of a difference. And they're jumpers, too."

"So that means if one of us falls in you get to be the one to save us, okay, Tails?" As always, Sonic had preempted his thoughts. But still, the mental image of Sonic or Knuckles – or him – surrounded by a feeding frenzy and carried off into the water... Tails shivered. Once again, his big brother's phobia seemed a little more rational than usual.

He shook himself off, even though he hadn't actually gotten wet. "Well, that kind of killed the mood again." Both of the others grunted agreement. "Back to the shrine?"

"I guess we've walked out some of our issues," Knuckles agreed. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually kind of enjoyed talking to you again."

"Actually, Tails, if you wouldn't mind giving us a bit of space once we're back, I've got a few things I'd like to ask Knux here about in private." Sonic was giving him that weird sideways look again, but if it helped get him and Knuckles back on good terms then Tails would give them all the room they needed.

* * *

Tails had barely left the shrine when he heard raised voices behind him. Great, right when he thought his big brothers had reconciled _this_ had to happen. He doubled back, lifting himself into a nice waxy tree and hiding in the dense foliage. Sonic was talking, and his voice had already quieted back down enough that the fox really had to focus to hear him. Neither of them seemed to be angry, though. Weird.

"Yeah, I know it's kind of normal for a head injury. That doesn't stop me from worrying about him all the time," Sonic said. Tails didn't dare push through the leaves for a closer look; what if they saw him? Knuckles hated snooping, not to mention all the boundaries it would violate between him and Sonic. But still, that one line had confirmed almost every fear he'd ever had about himself and his brother. _You make him worry_. _That's something you never want to do to people, especially when they care about you already_. "I mean, seriously, this crazy guy tells him to go out into the ocean with a bag of bombs and he does it even though he's not even awake! Sure, we had a nice touching talk with the idiot later, but come on."

"Sounds to me like he did what he always does, and did it just fine," Knuckles rumbled back. "But I see where you're coming from. It…yeah, all right, it scares me when I feel like I can't protect them anymore. There, I said it and you heard me. Laugh all you want, hedgehog."

"Who's laughing, Knuckles?" Wow, Sonic had used the echidna's real name. That _never_ happened. "I let him down so badly. You know, back then. It only ever hurt me before, and now my little brother's punching me in the shoulder." Tails hissed. He couldn't help it, and he froze right afterwards in case either of them had heard him, but he had thought Sonic had forgiven him for that. That it was all in the past and that it had been his fault anyway, not his brother's!

Knuckles slammed a fist into something hard enough to make the whole tree rattle. "I should've given you two another chance. If nothing else I'd have been able to help. I've just been up here guarding the Emerald when there's so much more chaos going on downstairs. Again."

Sonic's voice was suddenly gentler. "Knux, don't worry. I mean, it's literally what you live for, right? And I know I can be annoying to stick around." Where did that leave Tails? Annoying too? Probably.

Knuckles was back to yelling now, and Tails tucked his ears against the barrage. "What I live for? I'm a _guardian_, you spiky idiot! How much protecting have I been doing up here? All I've done is prove to myself I couldn't have saved her, and that I hung Tails and the others out to dry because I was being a – a –" He gave a harsh bark that might have passed for a laugh. "A total knucklehead."

_No, don't say that about yourself, Knuckles_. "That's not fair!" Oh. Had he just said that aloud? Very much "aloud?" Oops. The fox giggled nervously as he swung down out of the tree. "Um, hi?"

"Tails –" Sonic began, cutting himself off before he could say anything more.

"Come on, Knuckles, give yourself some credit." Of course, Tails had to think fast to figure out _what_. There was something, but it was from a time he wanted to forget. _It's part of your life, Tails, you might as well squeeze some good out of it_. "You were the only one of us to look for another option when Cosmo died." He managed to drop his own jaw. He'd actually said those words out loud, without hesitating, and he already knew he was going to pay for it later. "I know I sure didn't."

And then Sonic was there next to him. "Come on, big guy, stop talking about that. Your voice seriously creeped me out just now." Tails shrugged away from his big brother's attempt at a hug.

"You two always have to step in and save me. It doesn't matter if it's from myself or someone else; I can't fight most of my own battles," he said to Sonic before turning to Knuckles, "and I can't change the way my mind works even when it gets everyone else hurt." His eyes were burning but the tears would not come. "Even right now." This time he barely even noticed Sonic's arm slip around him and steady his shoulders.

"Tails, come with me a minute, okay?" Sonic's voice was low and level, as hypnotic as it could be with so much vibrancy behind it, and Tails let the hedgehog guide him into the jungle. "You've been acting like I'm a mine about to go off in your face ever since we left the workshop. Heck, let's be honest – ever since we got back from space. So what's eating you?"

Tails's breath was ragged; it chewed at his throat. "Sonic, whatever I say, promise you won't be mad at me?" Even though Sonic didn't like it he _wished_ the tears would hurry up and fall so he'd at least be able to get it over with.

"Is that all this is, Tails? You're worried you'll get on my nerves or something? Come on, kid, don't be silly. I'm always here to listen."

"See, you think I'm silly!" Tails knew that wasn't what Sonic meant but he couldn't stop himself. His brain was running away with every possible negative interpretation faster than he could realize he was doing it. "I've weighed you down since day one, so why do you stick around? There've got to be easier people for you to hang out with."

"Tails!" Sonic glared at him and recoiled, confirming things in the fox's head even as he denied them aloud. "That's the whole reason I took you in in the first place, kid. Come on, don't tell me someone as smart as you doesn't remember all that. Although I don't blame you for wanting to forget most of it."

"Yeah, you had to save me back then and you still have to save me now. You said it yourself; I make you worry all the time."

Sonic snorted. "Tails, that's called 'being a big brother.' I care about you, so I worry. That's all there is – you don't 'make' me do anything. Honestly," he chuckled mirthlessly, "you're not strong enough."

"No, no I'm not. And that's got to be annoying by now."

People on the surface probably heard Sonic's facepalm. "So that's it, huh? You think your friendship matters that little to me? Think I'd toss you over my shoulder and never look back because you're 'annoying?' That's _it_?" Well, he was certainly annoyed now, whether he discarded Tails or not. "Didn't Cosmo always say the same thing, something like 'I'm sorry I'm such a burden?' Didn't stop you from loving her though."

"That's not the same!" Tails's thoughts were all flying away from him, so he started flying away from Sonic. "She was never as weak as she thought she was, and even if she had been she was still my friend."

"Are you saying you're not _my_ friend, Tails?" Sonic's voice was deadly level. "Because I could describe you the exact same way."

Tails's throat bobbed wildly. "I don't want to talk about it." Sonic had to be right, he was always right, but listening to him was hurting too much right now.

* * *

Tails jerked up into the air, crashing through vines and splintering wood with his tails, heedless of the fresh damage he caused to himself or the world around him. He flew with eyes screwed shut and ears tucked down tight so he didn't have to know if Sonic or Knuckles was chasing after him. Wings fluttered frantically out of his way as he slashed through the canopy, some battering his face and body, and all that did was compound his frustration and chaos. _What's wrong with you, Tails_? _Bad fox_! But no matter what he told himself he couldn't penetrate his maelstrom of emotions.

Finally he shot out of the jungle, a little furry cannonball, and he spun and bounced into an exhausted ball on the sun-warmed soil.

And rolled right over the edge of Angel Island.

The little fox twisted and rolled in midair, clawing for purchase, but the knotted grasses and dry soil were already out of reach and the craggy mountain beneath the island sloped quickly away from his frantic hands. That was all right, though, because he could just fly himself back up once he settled down.

And then his tails weren't working. _Why weren't his tails working_?

Tails started to hyperventilate as he rushed to meet the sand and the rock miles below him. All right, for some reason he couldn't fly. Maybe it was fear or maybe that head injury was acting up no matter what Knuckles may have told Sonic about it, but it still left him with only one option. He stuck out one arm and tucked the other to flip himself over, letting his tails flutter freely behind him. As he stabilized himself he reached up and grabbed the useless fluff, one tail in each arm, and forced them out parallel to the ground. Now to see if they'd start spinning on their own, just like the helicopter had, but the ground was close, so close now, and even if he could slow his fall he'd still be stuck in the desert without a landmark.

And his tails were betraying him even still, everything the bullies had told his four-year-old self about his "curse" finally coming true, and he squeezed his eyes shut as the terrain resolved itself into detail below him. It had stopped accelerating, but the pilot in him knew that only meant he was falling as fast as he was ever going to, and that was an experience he'd hoped never to have. He was deeply aware of the irony; here he was, the great flier falling from the skies, and the patterns the air printed into his fur were no longer cheerful. His chest was so hot, his breath so fast he might as well not be breathing at all, and he twisted his head sideways to hide the world from his view. There was a sharp stop and nothing at all.

Except that wasn't quite true. He couldn't feel his body in the slightest, which was probably a good thing, but his brain was still switched on. That meant there was still hope somehow, and even if he had no idea how he'd just survived he knew Chaos worked in mysterious ways. So did technology, for that matter, maybe Eggman had rescued him again. Stranger things had happened.

_Sonic can still find you_, he realized, and for all he had whined about "being a burden" he was too scared for self-loathing. He was sure that could come later. _Knuckles can glide him down after you once he realizes what's happened_._ You know they'll save you_.

But Sonic hadn't been able to save Cosmo, and Knuckles had even said he'd never come up with a solution, and Tails's treasonous brain was already giving them excuses. _You blend in with the desert_._ They don't even know you're off the island; they'll never start looking down here_.

_You made Sonic mad at you_.

But his brother had said that didn't matter, and Tails nestled into the blanket of his own consciousness. Time passed without a mark; he couldn't feel a dry throat or burned skin. No, here in his mind he was safe, here in his mind his big brothers were already coming for him. Here in his mind he could wait for whatever end would come.


	15. Cocoon

_The world around him couldn't even be called black, since that would mean that light existed to compare it to_. _It was just…absence. That was the only word that matched_. Where _was he_? _Not location, that wasn't important_. _No, simply where was_ he?_ Arms, legs, tails, those had all been numb before, but there was numbness and there was _this.

_It wasn't just his extremities either_._ No fur, no bangs, no chest fluff, but those were still things he could live without_. _But no ribs, no head_…_ no sense_!_ So where _was_ he_?

_Minutes turned to hours turned to days; at least, it felt that way inside_. _Inside what, of course, he had no idea_. _The last thing he remembered_ _was falling, tails not responding, breath coming too fast, air scorching him as it tried to open the way_. _So was this death, and if so, why could he still remember so much_? _He obviously still knew what he was missing, which didn't seem right if he no longer had a body to come back to_.

_So that meant he was probably still alive_. _Probably_. _But for how much longer, and how long had it _really _been_? _Were people looking for him_? _There were two, but he had made one of them mad_. _Maybe he wouldn't come_ –

"_Stop that_!_ You know Sonic always comes after you_. _He saves everyone, even if they don't deserve it_. _And so does Knuckles_. _Don't blame them because _you_ didn't tell them where to look_."

"_How could I have_,"_he wanted to ask, but the question didn't matter_._ In the end he was still the one who had fallen, and both his brothers were going to be worried for a long while yet_._ That was the worst part of floating like this – he had who knew how long to realize how he'd caused trouble for the people who cared for him even through to the end_.

_That end seemed to be in no hurry to come, and he couldn't decide if that was a good thing_. _He was alone with his thoughts, but as long as he was still having them he would still be alive_. _For a certain definition of _alive_, since he didn't have any senses to confirm it for him_.

_Or maybe he did_. _He flexed his toes experimentally, or at least did what he thought used to be associated with flexing the toes he might or might not have_. _The sensation that answered him was overwhelming, a ghostly foot that at once returned the vertigo of stepping into air and the familiar touch of a felt insole_._ And now that it was there the feelings refused to leave, and they dueled for primacy even as other contradictions echoed back from all across the body he didn't have_.

_Everything seemed weightless, massless, empty, and yet it was all still _there._ He could feel his phantom fur ruffled by a breeze that didn't touch his face_. _Nothing made sense._ _It _had _to make _sense!

_Through the chaos of his warring senses a clear thought filtered through_. _This background, this void, he knew it from somewhen_. _It was eerily familiar – that's it, he'd seen it napping and he'd seen it unconscious_, _although he couldn't really call it _seeing._ So had he just fainted again_?

_No, that wasn't a solid enough answer_. _He hadn't had a real dream in days, had he, just echoing thoughts like these for eight hours or more every time_. _So he _had_ to have experienced that plummet from Angel Island, which meant that unless something completely unknown had happened he _had_ to be a wreck in the desert somewhere_. _And he'd never felt those strange attempts to connect to his body before, at least not that he could remember, so that was another variable – and just as they had faded away that thought brought them all scrambling back_. _Maybe he _had_ felt all this before; it was certainly the sort of thing a logical mind would repress_. Where was he?

_And where was everyone else_?_ He felt his nonexistent fingers drumming against nothing in particular and would have screamed at the irrationality if he'd had the mouth to do it with_. _He pretended to take some soothing breaths_, _which only slightly surprisingly calmed him down_. _He was rapidly losing the ability to be surprised by what was going on, if only because between his thoughts and the impossible reports his nerves might or might not be feeding him he no longer had any space left_.

"_These thoughts aren't getting you anywhere_. _So let yourself stop thinking like Sonic always said_. _Maybe something'll make sense once you've settled down_."

_He'd given himself good advice, and decided to take it_. _He wrapped himself in the cocoon of his nonexistence and let himself quietly tick down into it_.

* * *

Tails twitched. Actually twitched, as in jerkily moved the tip of one tail in a way he could tell was physical, which what was left of his sanity insisted shouldn't be happening. The rest of his mind shouted it down. _Enough's been going on right now_, _don't argue_. But he wasn't ready to give in to himself that easily, not now that something different was happening, so he agreed with himself on a compromise. _I'll try to figure out what makes this different, and if it's nothing after all then I can just ride with it_. But if it wasn't…. Oh, if it wasn't.

He reached out and twitched his tail again, deliberately this time. Yes, there was _definitely_ something out of the ordinary here. Or maybe back in the ordinary. It didn't really matter. He felt like he was swimming in something, or drowning, or maybe just stuck in it. Too thick for water, too thin for oil, too different for him to make a good guess. What stood out the most about it was that it seemed to be getting lower. He could feel a cold breeze in his damp belly fur and tried to reach down and pat it dry.

And that was when his world went mad, or madder than it had been. Little tugs on his arms were the start, but then his whole body shared the sensation of his hands up to the wrists for a mind-shattering instant. All right, with that past he could probably safely see if his brain was actually leaking out of his ears or if that was just more of the liquid.

He felt like his forearms this time. Good to know. And those little tugs must be part of it. The breeze was onto his bare hands now – and where had his gloves gone _this_ time – and his senses were sharp enough now, albeit a little dazed, to pick out the parts of his exposed body where he was still feeling warm and wet instead of drying off in the morning-or-whenever-this-was chill.

It had to be all in one motion, then. He rocked back and forth, pushing off with his freed hands, and in one last instant as the little waxy plugs came off every part of his body felt scrambled and randomized. Then it was back to normal, or else he'd just changed his idea of normal to account for the differences. Regardless, his first act as a free fox was to be violently ill all down his no-longer-white chest fur.

The sudden stinging below his waist let him know that he had seriously bad aim as his vomit crept into the gashes the glass had left in him.

_Glass_. _But I thought that had _healed.

Chaos take this, where _was_ he?

He let his head slump against the front of his tank – considering the strange fluid that had stopped draining somewhere just above his knees and the wires that dangled all around him there was no doubting it was a tank of some kind – and promptly gasped at the tininess of the enclosure. Well, whoever had put him in here probably didn't intend for him to move around this much, did they? At least the new posture helped tamp down his nausea before he did anything more than dry-heave, and he considered himself lucky his sense of taste hadn't come back from its vacation yet.

Now that his ears were free of fluid – impressive given how viscous the stuff was; he hadn't even had to tap them – and so close to the ragged gash he could make out sound in the outside world. He felt sure he would have flopped around comically if he had the space once he recognized the voices.

"– The heck is this stuff, Knux?"

"I don't know, but I don't have all your problems and I'd still prefer not to get stuck swimming in it."

"No kidding. Well, just another answer we're going to drag out of him when we catch up, right?"

The good-natured conversation dwindled into the distance and Tails wished his throat was clear enough to cry out to them. Or, more accurately, that he could feel his vocal cords enough to make a sound. Of course, if they had missed his retching they probably couldn't hear any other noise he could make either.

It probably helped that he was blind right now, all things considered, since he could feel the edges of the gap and didn't have to see how ragged they were. He braced his back against the tank and worked all six limbs into the tear. Probably a hedgehog spine behind this one; just a random casualty of some more urgent battle. He strained against the metal and to his amazement it started to give, although he had to pull his legs out as he felt the sharper edges slicing into his bare feet. _Once again, no gloves, no shoes_. _Why are they always gone_? Finally the metal above and below stopped resisting and just folded up like a giant razor-edged accordion, and Tails tumbled out onto a cold metal floor coated in whatever it was he had been suspended in. Right. Time to sort himself out.

First priority went to his injuries. It wasn't water but it was still the best he had, so he ran his hands through the sticky liquid on the floor and carried it up to his chest and groin, scrubbing as furiously as he dared to get the vomit out of his wounds. _Coordination: check_. Shards of leftover glass clinked and tore inside him, but he could worry about that once he could see again. So that meant….

This time he really did flop around comically. In order for this to make any sort of rational sense he had to have been stuck in that tank since the day of the crash, but then how had he been wandering around in Shamar and Spagonia all week? What had happened to his burns, his abrasions, his two _near-death experiences_ for the Emeralds' sake!

Well, lying still wasn't going to get him any answers. Whether or not he could actually stand on his own remained to be seen, though, and for now he was content to lean heavily on the wall. It was an oddly curved wall, maybe another one of those pods, and there seemed to be some sort of bas-relief design on the front. He'd need his sight to return before he could be sure, but he could at least feel around and try to figure it out that way. _Let's see…a big circle, but there are these little divots in it…and the whole bottom half feels like a grille. Wait, please don't let there be whiskers_. There were, three big triangles jutting out of each side. It was a stylized grinning, mustachioed face…Eggman. _But that makes even less sense_!_ We haven't heard from him in forever_!

But it was slotting into place too, so neatly he castigated himself for not seeing the pattern sooner, and the fact that he had no reason to even consider this didn't make it any easier. _Considering everything is your _job_, Tails_. _You're the genius_.

But he was considering it now. Eggman had been hovering right outside their canyon in the desert, which was also where Tails had just fallen before whatever-the-heck that had been in the tank. Even the memory made him shudder. And then he had managed to track Tails out into the ocean and was willing to brave the Downunda armada and the fox's own EMP bombs to recover him and return him to Sonic. And it wasn't just the doctor, either. Why else would the fairly serious injuries he had again now have vanished without a trace while much milder ones from later stubbornly stuck around through a full week, including two hospital trips? He rubbed at his tails where the abrasions had just started to itch, and realized that the wounds were gone. The pains were as ghostly as his whole body had been moments ago. He was thinking about them so they came back, because he remembered all too well what and where they were supposed to be.

Tails shivered even more than the cold and the damp could explain as a thought came back into his mind. It had been nothing at the time, just a bittersweet memory of an old friend, but now its importance seemed overwhelming. _Bunnie's metal limbs; just a relic of one of Eggman's earliest attempts at bridging the gap between life and machine_. He screwed his eyes shut and shook his head vigorously. No, that was impossible. And yet. Yes, that sneaking, treacherous "and yet."

And yet it made sense. It wound up the loose ends. He had no idea how the mad doctor had done it, or why, or even if Eggman ever needed something as mundane as a reason to do that kind of thing. It would have taken advances in robotics, prosthetics, and neural-computer interfaces that Tails wouldn't even have dreamed of. But still, that made sense of the loose ends, and he knew he was forgetting at least one of them.

_Cream_.

The fox planted himself in a corner, scrubbing his eyes as if that would make his vision come back any faster. His young friend was trapped in the same nightmare he had been, and she might not even know it – she certainly shouldn't have to understand. Once he could tell one storage tank from another he'd start searching for her if it took the rest of his natural life. Stopping that barrage of impossibility from tormenting anyone else would make it all worthwhile.

And besides, if he hadn't just latched onto the first solution at the expense of the truth again, he might just be able to stop one of Eggman's robots from running wild among the people he had promised to protect and failed so many times.

Tails yawned cavernously. But first he had to see again, and before that he had to make sure not to fall asleep. That could happen on his own time.

* * *

Despite tapping his fingers, feet, and tailtips spastically Tails wasn't able to quite keep that promise to himself. Instead of the void and the chaos and the noise of his own thoughts, though, there was – however briefly – nothing but the pulsing colors on the backs of his own eyelids. And then almost immediately they resolved themselves into a picture he'd hope never to see again. There was a brilliant, glistening cherry tree in full blossom atop a giant orb that managed to be both purest white and purest black at once somehow. But it wasn't causing the illogic pains that his earlier experience had, in fact, it was replacing pain altogether.

And there was that smooth noseless green face that quite literally haunted his dreams, hovering in front of the tree she had become, arms spread wide. "Please, Tails. Please shoot me." He felt tears burning down cheeks that only existed in the dreamworld – and thinking that hard about it kicked him back awake before he had to reach for the Sonic Driver's toggle again.

He started to laugh, graduating into full-on shrieking – in hysterics or in ecstasy, he wasn't entirely sure. He kicked his heels in the puddle and slapped his hands on the sheet metal around him, letting his head snap back and forth. He was _dreaming _again! It might have been a nightmare but that was still less important than the fact that he had _had_ it! Whatever had been going on, whether his "robot double" hypothesis was true or a total dead end, it was all over now. He just had to find Cream and his big brothers and get out of here, and things would finally be back to normal.

Who wouldn't be laughing at a time like this?

* * *

Tails didn't know how long his moment lasted, only that one moment he was blind and the next he opened bleary eyes on a hallway so dark he barely even noticed the difference. Eggman was usually a fan of garish red and purple neon lights; either Sonic had wrecked the place or he was just that bad at hosting long-term guests. The hysterical laughter threatened to bubble back to the surface but Tails sat on its lid. _That's quite enough of that, thank you_!

His legs were still wobbly and he looked down at them. Aside from the moisture stains he thought they looked even thinner than his usual. It figured; he hadn't exactly exercised them in over a week. His muscles must have atrophied a little everywhere, and if he was lucky it really would just be "a little."

His daring escape had given him bonus cuts across his palms and all over his feet, and he didn't even want to look at his tails. Fortunately the bluish gel that undulated across the floor seemed to have cleaned all the wounds. Again, if he was lucky it would be genuinely antiseptic, but he'd have to clean everything off himself once he got the chance. Even if he had to use his tongue, at least he'd _know_ it was a little cleaner.

Well, he might be a walking mass of gouges right now, so there was no reason not to add a few more. The entire opposite wall was filled with pods like his own, and considering that either Sonic or Knuckles had ripped his open – and that _he'd_ been able to finish the job, especially in this condition – he didn't think he'd have too much trouble if he just slashed them open with his tails. Just had to keep his distance, make sure he didn't put any extra damage into the people inside. If there were any.

His pod had been fifth in from the right as he stood facing them now; one out of what he thought was twenty but didn't care enough to double-check. Might as well start with the big broad stretch left of his tank. He could start by putting slashes in each, literally wiping the grin off Eggman's face, and seeing if anyone started moving around inside. _Why didn't Sonic or Knuckles do the same for you_? He started to ask himself, but the answer came halfway through the question. _Because they weren't looking for it. You are_._ Now stop borrowing trouble, you silly creature_.

More blue gel, uncomfortably reminiscent of Chaos's semisolid body, poured out of the ruptured tanks. Fifteen to the left, four to the right, twenty in all, and naturally it was only on the last one where thuds and clattering started to echo.

"Cream, is that you? Hold still, I'll have you out in a minute!" Tails didn't know if she could hear him yet, but it didn't matter. He knew where she was, or at least where _someone_ was, and he didn't care in the slightest that his tails were gouged and bleeding enthusiastically all along their length. No, they still had a task to complete, and he wedged them into the tear they had already opened and pulled in both directions. For a moment he wasn't sure if the metal would give before what was left of his namesakes did, but then he was through and a warm brown body came tumbling out onto his shoulder, electrodes popping off every inch of her as she went.

Tails knew what to expect from his own experiences, but he hadn't realized that the disorientation lasted a full five seconds. And then the vertigo visibly figured out which direction to take to her stomach and he ducked out of the way as she emptied it. Mercifully she'd missed not only him but herself as well, and he gave her a moment to recover as he searched for a clean pool of gel to wash his tails down in. Cream would lecture him for _hours_ if she caught him looking like this, no matter his reasons!

He turned back around to where he had eased her down and took in her full appearance for the first time. He'd never seen her not only without her shoes and gloved but also her _skirt_ before, and curiosity warred with propriety as he tried to make himself turn away.

Eventually reason bulled into the conflict and dismissed it out of hand. _Neither of you have anything to wear right now and you have to get her out anyway; no point in hiding from it_. _You can apologize to her and Vanilla later_. It was a workable compromise, and one that also guaranteed he'd be blushing brightly enough to light up the whole complex all the while, so that was an added bonus.

"Tails, is that you?" Oh, good, so she probably had heard him – and hey, she had her voice back already! What put her so far ahead of the curve? "What are you doing here? I was with Mom and Vector, we were baking, and then I suddenly felt really sick and now I can't see!" Her voice spiked to a pitch that intrinsically hurt Tails's ears, but her tears were the real killer. He reached out to her with his tails before remembering the cuts and reconsidering. He didn't have any nice fluffy parts to offer that weren't slick with gel, blood, or worse right now, so he settled for a voice that would have been comforting if it weren't so scratchy.

"I'll fill you in later. Long story short, Eggman kidnapped you. I'll tell you how later, don't worry," he said again as her tears redoubled. "I'm a little weak myself," she deserved to know that, "but Sonic and Knuckles are around here somewhere and I can keep you safe until we catch up with them." He certainly hoped that was true.

And, as heavy metallic footsteps clattered across the plating towards them, he realized he already had his first chance to prove it. He took up a wide ready stance, tails flicking as they braced for the coming fight, and all the while he hoped he would be able to stand up long enough for the attacker to get there.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, here we go! The comparatively exposition-free half of the obligatory "What Is This Author On?" mid-fic twist. Hopefully it's clear enough what Tails had realized; I've certainly tried to bury "subtle" foreshadowing ahead of time. Now to go back and pray I didn't contradict myself somewhere along the line.

On another note, this is definitely my first time writing anything as screwy as those first two pages worth of italics. Be as savage as you feel they deserve.


	16. Answers Without Questions

_Tails, what are you doing_? The fox's brain was screaming loud enough it ought to be making sounds of its own. _You can't even stand; why are you trying to fight_?

He looked over his shoulder at the quietly shaking Cream. _Any more questions_? Yes, he was aware that his mind was arguing with itself in complete sentences, but with the metal-on-metal noise clanking closer that was the least of his worries.

_Yes, actually_. Oh, boy. _Remember what Knuckles's problem with you was_? _You're still doing it_.

Wait, what? What was he trying to tell himself?

_Think_!_ Actually stop and think for a change, Tails_. _You've still got time; stop wasting it listening to your own voice and spend it coming up with a way to _not_ get both of you killed_.

Oh! Right. Except what was there…. "Cream!" She squeaked and jerked up, and Tails lunged for her instinctively. "Come on, I'm going to find you somewhere to hide." Except where? The tanks might have worked if he hadn't ripped them wide open, and there wasn't really any other cover in the room. "Hold on, hold on." He gritted his teeth. So much for that idea then – well, he could at least protect _her_. "Can you see yet?" She shook her head. "Okay, I'm going to guide you then." He tried to keep his voice as soothing as possible, but it sounded rusty and out-of-use, and he couldn't tamp down his own fear.

The tension was agony, frustration boiling to the point where he felt a need to slam his head into something, but Tails knew it wasn't Cream's fault she had to move so slowly. It wasn't his, either. No, this all fell back on Eggman – _quit shifting blame, Tails_. _If you hadn't been asleep he'd never have gotten either of you_. "Okay, a big step here…" he placed his hands under her foot to give her a boost, and she gasped a little as she realized she was back in the tank. "Try to curl up and look as small as possible, okay, but don't cut yourself. I'll be back in a minute." He was trembling all over for some reason he couldn't quite identify as he turned back around to face the doorway.

_Now, if I had to fight a war machine while bleeding from half my body and barely able to stand – and I guess I do – where would I be_? Of course, the gel! He practically leapt for the big blue blob, which was holding itself together well enough that it still came up to his knees, and let the thick liquid prop up his swaying legs. His tails snapped out to both sides and his arms came up to guard his face – no point in wasting energy on his torso, that was a mess whether it took a hit or not.

The footsteps were somehow less ominous now that he was actually listening for them, sounding light and hollow instead of the resounding thuds that went along with the doctor's beloved giant machines. For a moment Tails dared to hope that this would be some little cleaning robot sent to clear out the gel or something, an enemy he could grab Cream and run from even in his condition. But then the machine stepped out of the shadows and the fox's breath tore at his throat.

_Well, you _did_ think you had this all figured out_. _Nice to have some confirmation, isn't it_? For just a second Tails wondered how crazy it would make him to tell his mental voice to shut up.

The thing that stood in the doorway didn't look like any machine Eggman had ever sent their way in the past. It was literally a skeletal chassis, built either with structural-steel "bones" or else sculpted surfaces that would probably feel like them. The scale was a little more suspicious; the machine came up to almost exactly Tails's height. It was just missing the bangs. But the real giveaway was the two long, winding cables that snaked out behind it, just waiting to be given fur and brought to life.

The doctor had tried robotic doubles in the past, but they had plainly – to anyone who wasn't Amy, at least – been rough approximations designed more around matching the original's abilities than anything else. This thing looked like it was the same idea, but Tails could already envision it padded out with fur and some kind of synthetic skin. With that bone structure and a halfway-decent attempt at fleshing it out, he could imagine it fooling even Sonic. In fact, unless he very much missed his guess, one already had.

His robotic double settled into the same ready stance Tails had used moments before, which made its cheerful voice even more incongruous. "Hi there! Doctor Robotnik wants to see you two. I'll help you get there, okay?" _Man_, that was good. The facial movement was more a little creepy, true, but again the robot obviously wasn't finished. The exaggerated movements would probably come across as totally natural. And that _voice_…none of the tinny sound Tails usually associated with robots. It could have come from his own vocal cords, and the word choice was spot-on too. _He worked hard on this thing, didn't he_? He had no problem admiring Eggman's genius, even if it was probably about to tear him apart.

"Sorry, but I don't think I'm quite up for meeting the doctor right now. How about you go on ahead?" It was a halfhearted attempt, but right now Tails wasn't sure he could take the robot. Plus, he might be able to bluff it into thinking he was the only one there.

"I'm sorry, but he _really_ wants to talk to you right now. I'll help you get there, okay?" Maybe it wasn't such a triumph after all – not only was there a huge disconnect between the tones of the two sentences but the second was a syllable-for-syllable echo of the first time it has spoken. Then again, he was fairly sure this thing was supposed to have a pilot – him – so good AI probably hadn't been at the top of Eggman's To-Do list. And that gave Tails a little spark of hope.

"Sorry," the real fox muttered. "Looks like we're all going to be a bit late." And with that he threw a punch squarely at his opposite's jaw.

The impact sent him flailing into the gel puddle, splashing it across the room. "Why'd you do that?" the double whined, although as far as Tails could tell he hadn't done any actual damage. It had been surprisingly warm, almost hot, despite being made of metal – probably another part of the illusion. _Is that why Sonic said I felt cold in Soleanna_? _Was I just low on fuel or something_?

Then it responded with a punch of its own, and the fox was hard-pressed to roll out of the way before it could connect. Still, though, it didn't do much of anything to the gel, let alone the floor, which he supposed made sense. After all, if he had suddenly been _competent_ even he might have realized something was wrong. That might also explain why his flight hadn't been giving him his usual adrenaline rush, or how he had stayed up for so long to fight that fire in Soleanna without getting tired until the next morning. The double obviously had limits built in, and that meant that he might just be able to take it now.

He rolled back up to his feet as the machine came at him again. It went through a series of dizzyingly fast attacks – dizzying in truth considering how many of them involved pirouettes – with hands and feet, and Tails ducked as many as he could. He deflected a few on his arms too, but he could sense the wall coming up close behind him and the robot showed no signs of relenting. Instead of retreating the fox dove aside, springing off his forearms to land on his feet. The impact jostled the glass again and he felt some of the strength leech out of his lower body as something tore, not that he had much left to begin with. _I _really_ need to get that taken care of fast_.

Speaking of fast, the robot apparently wasn't. He was still in scything distance of its rat-tails, but for whatever reason it wasn't using them. Not that Tails was complaining. Instead the machine started to turn, but its feet were slick with gel and what might have been a little blood from a graze on Tails's shoulder. He could worry about that later; for now he was just going to use the same tools Eggman, like everyone else, had neglected. He gave the machine an apologetic grin as he lofted into the air, twisting until he was broad-on to it, and hovered towards it at neck-level. The world slowed down around him and he let out a cheer, or at least something similar to one. _I'm back_! _I really am_!

He should have saved that cheer, he realized as the robot sheared in half just above the hips. _Weird design choice, that_. _I mean, I hit it in the neck_. Despite everything, though, he cringed at the result rather than celebrating it. That robot had been…just too lifelike, and he could still imagine being inside it and going through the same thing from the other side. He patted himself, reassuring himself that all his parts were still where they were supposed to be. And that was when he noticed the bubbles roiling in the gel right around the robot's top half. Something was obviously overheating, and if it blew – _Cream_!

Tails lunged for the tank he had hidden the rabbit girl in, planting himself firmly between her and the damaged robot. "Tails, what's happening?" she asked in a small and frightened voice. Right, her eyesight clearly wasn't back yet. How long had that fight lasted, anyway? He could fill her in once he knew what was happening with –

He ducked his ears against the sudden wall of sound, but that was nothing compared to the splashes of boiling whatever-it-was that suddenly clung to his fur all up and down his back. Or the saw-toothed shrapnel that now stuck out of his legs and lower back. He cried out as the tearing pain blossomed all across him and Cream squealed in response. "Tails, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

A viciously unfair part of his mind wanted to say something sarcastic, take his pain out on her, but he was too busy _enduring_ that pain to spare any energy for it. Besides, she was going to get quite an eyeful as soon as her vision came back anyway; he might as well spare her as long as he could. After all, that was why he jumped in front of her in the first place, right?

Instead of commenting, then, he just gave his little friend an exhausted smile he couldn't believe he'd managed to conjure up, and then he slid down the front of her tank to land his chest on the broken rim and his chin in her lap.

The newest injury didn't even register. Tails was already asleep.

* * *

When he floated back to consciousness the young fox's fur was sticky and matted. Snarls caught and tore just because he rolled over. He only realized what a bad idea that was once he was already committed, but to his pleasant surprise he didn't impale himself on little bits of robot. _Cream must have looked out for me_.

As soon as he opened his eyes the rabbit was there, her hands chafed and stained but her smile still warm as ever, and Tails felt some energy flow back into him. "How'd you sleep?" Tails muttered some platitude even he couldn't hear, and she frowned ferociously for just a moment. "No, I mean _how_? I was," she suddenly started avoiding eye contact, not that Tails had much of a problem with that right now. He settled against the wall and closed his eyes, feeling the damage to his back more as little dots of cold than anything else. "I had to get that metal out of you, and I had to stop the bleeding. You…you kept twitching. All the time! I thought I was hurting you but I _knew_ what I had to do because Mom and Cosmo told me so many times."

So, Cosmo had saved his life again, and even though he knew Cream deserved the credit he couldn't help but give it to the flower girl instead. He'd be fairer once he had his strength back. _Never let them tell you that you're worthless_, _Cosmo_. _You've done so much for all of us_. _You know better_.

He smiled fractionally at the thought. What had changed, he wondered, that let him think about his lost friend without all the pain? There was still an ache there, one far more pervasive than all the damage to his body, but he didn't feel compelled to build a wall against it anymore. Maybe that should worry him; he might be letting his own problems distract him from everyone else's. But then again, maybe he was just starting to heal.

The young fox opened his eyes for real, taking the time to survey the room again. Cream had swept up whatever was left of the robot, getting the parts out of the sea of gel – and if he had anything left inside him he would probably have vomited it up again as he saw the pool of ankle-deep sludge that took up almost the entire room now. The color was a nauseating mix of reds and browns, and as he looked down at himself he realized why – and also why his fur was so sticky. "Cream, how long were you wading in that stuff?" He hated the sound of his own voice just then, the way it underscored his weakness. He was supposed to be protecting Cream, not the other way around!

"I don't know," she said simply enough. "As long as it took, why?"

Tails didn't think he needed to answer that question. The sludge might have been sterile when she started work; it very definitely wasn't now. In fact, it would probably turn anything that came near it instantly septic. Considering that he was more open wound than skin right now that was a distinct problem. "We need to get moving," he said finally, pushing his back up the wall and ignoring the cold smears he painted into his fur. "I think Sonic and Knuckles went…." Great, he couldn't even remember which way they'd gone! For that matter, if he'd been out long enough they might already have left him behind without even realizing it. "Um. Pick a direction, Tails. That way!" He waved at the nearer of the two doors, the one his double hadn't come through, with much more confidence than he felt. It was at least a little cheering to see Cream perk up as she started to think they might actually get out of here alive after all.

And then he felt the bleeding start again between his legs, but there wasn't any more grinding or tearing, and his cheekbones flamed. "Cream…did you poke around and get out the rest of the glass?" He swallowed hard, a reaction only reinforced when she started scuffing her foot. He might have smiled at the way she had adopted his mannerism, but right now he was too busy being ashamed for both their sakes.

"Yes," she finally said in a tiny voice, and if not for the blood and the muck Tails would have definitely reached out to her. "I know it was – I mean, I had to get it out before you could – I mean…please don't tell Mom; she'll kill us both," she said almost as awkwardly as Tails would have in her place.

"Thanks," he said instead, wondering how much he meant it as opposed to being disturbed and embarrassed. She was right; it _had_ needed to come out and fast no matter how antiseptic that gel had once been, especially if they were going to be on the move, but still! And neither of them even knew where their gloves were anymore, which made it even more awkward. "Don't worry, I won't say a thing." Probably because no matter how the listener reacted his own nerves would do him in if he even thought of it.

Better not to think about it then, and now that he could at least move freely – even if he still felt like his strength was flowing out from those old glass cuts, and even if there was still definitely a foreign weight down there that told him Cream hadn't gotten all of it – he figured it was time to follow his guess on where the others had gone. He got a welcome distraction almost immediately in the form of two very familiar voices.

Sonic was the first one he could make out clearly, to his absolute joy. "Can you slow him down?"

"You're the only one who can catch him! He's _your_ brother; _you_ get to talk sense into him while I beat some into the doctor here."

"Knux, you're no fun, you know that?"

What had that bit about "he's your brother" been? Another replacement? No, there was no way Sonic would fall for the simplistic word bank that other robot had. But if Eggman was there too he might be feeding it lines – _who cares how it's working, Tails, just make sure it _stops _working_.

Not a bad idea. He went back up against the wall, inching out and peeking around the corner. Yes, it was definitely him down that hall and closing fast, and he had to admit that give or take the severe lacerations he could have been looking into a mirror. Well, lacerations or no he was about to give his big brothers an edge – and probably some answers.

He started counting under his breath, and based on what he had seen of the fleeing robot he whipped around to slam both tails across the entrance as soon as he hit "fifteen-one-thousand." He had called it perfectly – _at the risk of sounding immodest I usually do, at least for little things like that_ – and his double skidded and bounced back the way it came, though not without leaving a fresh set of bruises. "Sonic!" he cried, and to his horror the robot matched his cry. The confused hedgehog slid past the robot on his heels, trying to curb his momentum, and Tails left his namesakes out across the hall to give him a cushion. Better take one more hit for the day then let Sonic take a dive into that bloodied pool.

"Wait, Tails – except, Tails – aw, man. Knux, get up here!" the hedgehog hollered, and Tails ducked his ears. _You're standing a bit too close to me for that, Sonic_. "Look, I know _one_ of you is a bot. Now," he glared at the machine, which was still trying to get back on its feet, "I'm not buying your behavior, kid," but then he wheeled on Tails, "but it seems a bit too strange I'd run into you here. What, does Eggman think my brother can't look after himself? I mean, I'd like to feel sorry for you but you're so beat up I almost can't take it seriously." _I'm not certain which part of that was worse, the fact that he thinks I can take care of myself when I can't or that I'm hurt too badly for him to recognize me_.

"Mister Sonic." Cream stormed up in front of him, tiny fists balled up and ears crooked. "I can't believe you'd say that about Tails! He got us both free and destroyed one of Doctor Eggman's robots, and I've been taking care of him ever since."

"M-hm." Sonic nodded but was visibly unconvinced. "Funny, since I left you with your mom five days ago."

"Yeah, I remember that too," she said, fury ebbing as confusion took over. "In fact, I remember everything after that too, right up until I was suddenly here with Tails."

"Hey, you stay right there," the hedgehog snapped at the robot, which was trying to slink back down the hall. "I still haven't forgiven you for that 'Eggman saved me and you didn't so I'm friends with him instead of you' bit." Tails could hear emotion after emotion coloring his brother's voice; regret, disappointment, rage, and even fear chasing each other through the words.

"But my dear Sonic, that's exactly what happened." A gleeful growl filled the hall as a big bowl-shaped hovercraft carrying a big bowl-shaped human droned towards them, a dizzy Knuckles jumping up to try and punch it from below. The building must have had a much higher ceiling than Tails had noticed, and he was usually the one to notice things like that. "Didn't you tell him 'you'd toss him over your shoulder and never look back,' wasn't it?" The red-suited man tugged the ends of his glorious orange moustaches as he spoke.

Ouch. Eggman had been listening to that bit? "That's not true." Sonic ground out through clenched teeth. "I'd never mean something like that to my little brother!"

"Spare me. I could get you the audio file if you wanted, but I think we all know perfectly well what you told him. And that you yelled at him immediately afterwards. Can you blame the poor fellow for feeling a little distressed after that?"

"You know, you're not making me like this version of Tails any better," Sonic spat with a gesture at the fake. "Of course he'd be a little distressed – that's why he fell off the island! But picking you over me just for that? Nah, Tails is smarter than that." _Don't be too sure, Sonic_, Tails thought guiltily as he recalled his own thoughts from the time.

"Oh, no one here is denying he's smart." Eggman broke off midsentence with a wince as Knuckles finally connected and got the human to bite his tongue. "Quit it, Knuckles! I'm talking here." He lifted another few feet away from the irate echidna, who kept jumping and punching ineffectually. "No, as I was saying, Tails is a genius. That's why he'd side with the person who saved his life twice in a row instead of the one who was nowhere near for either – and the one responsible for one of those times too. Why he'd side with me over the person who failed to save Cosmo."

Tails felt utterly winded by that last statement, but it was even worse when Sonic slowly turned to look at both him and his double. He'd only seen that vacant, defeated expression once before, and that had been while he was punching his big brother helplessly on the deck of the Blue Typhoon right after Cosmo's death. He'd been too distracted at the time to realize what it was, and through that oversight he'd let himself blame Sonic for everything at the one time his brother had ever truly lost. Instead of despair, though, he felt white-hot rage flooding his shredded body and he stiffened, coming fully into the hallway and facing everyone directly.

"Don't say anything like that ever again! Sonic never did anything less than his best, and I didn't see _you_ coming up with any great ideas back then either! And he didn't do anything to me on Angel Island; that was all my fault. I took everything he said and ran with it," he laughed bitterly, "ran it right off the cliff." Even Knuckles looked shocked at how forceful the fox had suddenly become. "So lay off him, okay?" He couldn't stop himself from turning it into a request, but from the stunned silence it didn't seem like anyone had heard it as one anyway.

After a moment of silence followed by even more spluttering Eggman finally regained coherence. "How dare you? Ungrateful machine, you should be thanking me for pulling the plug on you before you hit the ground."

"Oh, is this the same 'Tails' that was up on Angel Island with us?" Knuckles asked suddenly. "That's very interesting, Doctor, considering I've got these with me." He reached up into his quills and extracted a very familiar set of shoes, gloves, and wrist straps. "Want to guess where we found them?" He smiled coldly even though Eggman couldn't see his face, and Tails grinned back as he caught onto what the echidna was saying right before Knuckles clarified. "Scattered across a mile of desert outside, circuits still inside them. Ketchup blood isn't fooling anyone."

"Your point, Knuckles?"

"Simply this." Without any further talk Knuckles crossed to the confused robot, grabbed it roughly by both tails, and after spinning the shrieking thing around for a moment released it directly at the dazed Eggman's hovercraft. The robot disintegrated in a cloud of metal parts, and a thin splotch of what was probably synthetic blood painted the smooth surface of the machine. The doctor screamed almost as loudly as the robot had, and Knuckles grabbed onto both Cream's and Tails's hands as he pushed into the room. "Come on, both of you, start running!"

Tails had no idea how Knuckles had brought himself to destroy that machine through its pitiful cries, but all he had space to process right now was his sheer gratitude that the echidna hadn't picked _wrong_. "Is Sonic coming?" He couldn't see and didn't feel energetic enough to check.

"You think he's going to have a problem with Robotnik? Come on, Tails, you know him better than that." Yes, the fox supposed he did. "Let him figure out what everyone just said – should be good for a month or so – and he'll be right behind us." Tails wanted to protest, to break away and go look after Sonic, but a glare from Cream kept his mouth shut. His brother would be fine; having to look after Tails – especially in this state – would just slow him down. So instead he gripped Knuckles's hand as tightly as he still could and simply ran.

* * *

It took considerably less than a month for Sonic to catch up with them. Maybe fifteen minutes at most, by which time Knuckles had already dragged the younger two to a place where the metal gave way to crumbling yellow brick. Tails took the chance to catch his breath and rub his singed tail; the chainguns on the heavy robot chasing them were wildly inaccurate but that didn't help the ricochet any. "Stay close to me from here on," Knuckles said in a low voice, not that either of them had even tried to get out of his grip. "We're in echidna ruins now, and trust me, Eggman's got nothing on this place."

"No kidding," Sonic replied. "You two weren't here for this part, but we basically set off every trap on the main path in here." It didn't take much effort for Tails to work out who had tripped most of them. "Just stick close, you'll be all right," he added for Cream's benefit. It was too dark to tell how she reacted, but Tails imagined that was as reassuring for her as it had been for him.

The clatter of metal in the base behind them gave way to crunches on dirt and masonry, and Sonic abruptly changed his mind. "Knuckles, grab them and go! I'll play with Eggman for a little bit."

_My kingdom for a Power Ring_, Tails thought to himself, but there was no point in wishing for technology he didn't have with him at the moment – well, not when he had the parts or focus to build it, at least. Might as well dream of blasting a path for themselves with the Sonic Driver, not that he was ever going near that gun again.

"Right. Ah, which way was it again?" The halls echoed with the sound of three foreheads being slapped in unison.

"Pick a road and _go_." Sonic wasn't fooling around. "We're almost out of –"

And then they were. The pursuing walker's chainguns whirred as they came up to speed, but mercifully the thing was tracking Sonic first, and the hedgehog gleefully danced around its trail of fire. Wait, that might be an opening. "Sonic, get underneath it! Knuckles, if you put us down do you think you can damage that thing?"

The echidna grunted. "Haven't met one I couldn't yet." Well, excluding the hovercraft of course, but that thing had survived _black holes_ on its own.

Sonic responded gratifyingly quickly, except instead of trying to keep up with him the robot decided to change targets. It had let the two big guns tick down as the hedgehog ducked out of its line of fire, so that bought Tails a couple of seconds, and the battered fox grabbed Cream and darted for the nearest pillar.

And that was when the ceiling fell in. Shards of masonry rained all around them in what proved to have been a colossal main hall as a wide variety of ordnance battered through from the surface. _No, I'm hallucinating, my eyes aren't adapted yet_. _There's no way it could be here_. But there it was, and the fox couldn't argue with his own eyes.

The Blue Typhoon, hull still punched in at far too many places, gently settled into the hole it had just blasted as individuals on all decks let their braced cannons cool down from the entry. For some reason the fox found all that firepower offensive; the original ship had had the Sonic Driver and its shields and that was it. A depressingly familiar skunk beckoned to them out of one of the holes and Knuckles charged straight at him, dragging Tails and Cream and leaving Sonic in his wake. The irate hedgehog balled up and launched himself into the ship, caroming off of several walls before finally stopping.

"Showoff," Geoffrey took the time to say before Knuckles got his hands free and immediately set about using them to dismantle the skunk.

Tails pulled uselessly at the echidna's shoulders. "Knuckles, wait, he's on our side!"

"Give me a reason to believe that."

"Why _don't_ you, that's the question." After all, Knuckles hadn't been there for the whole confusion in Shamar. "I mean, I'm still not sure what's going on here either, but just because you don't like each other on principle doesn't mean you've got to pin him to a wall every time you meet."

"Easy answer to that one, Tails." Knuckles wasn't punching anymore, that was progress. "He knew how your machines worked, he wasn't on the Typhoon when we left, and he turns up later with what might even be the same bunch of soldiers that chased us out in the first place? Come on, Tails, that just screams 'traitor' to me."

"If I really were a traitor," Geoffrey said as he caught his breath, "would I warn you to _get down_!" Everyone started to turn, but Tails felt a little pinprick in his neck to add to the list of injuries.

The fox already felt sluggish as he sagged to the floor, and he realized that everyone – even Geoffrey – had been hit as their knees gave out too. His last thought before blackness caught up with him again was that there might actually have been some perks to temporarily being a robot, but then again he wouldn't have been able to save the others anyway, would he?

* * *

Author's Note: And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the root of all the implausibilities and strangeness in the chapters leading up to this. I'm sorry if I got a little too graphic with Tails's injuries, but he's basically stuck in a thinking role for the rest of the story – he'll recover, of course, even contribute to the other fights they'll get into, but he really tore himself up in the escape attempt. If you feel I crossed a line (including the line between T and M ratings) please let me know.

I've edited the ending somewhat – still not completely satisfied though – and made a few other tweaks based on feedback from Exploder. In keeping with my recent discovery of the way ffnet works, I'll note any major edits in future notes.


	17. Unwanted Rescues

The first thing Tails felt was a pair of hands pressing down on his shoulders. Then he heard Sonic's voice inches away from his nose. "Don't get up too quick, big guy. Need to make sure the stitches are holding first." Oh. Was he getting up? He couldn't tell, but wherever he was felt so soft and warm and _comfortable_ getting up could probably wait.

Actually, it seemed like he knew this bed from somewhere. His eyes weren't open, but he could already picture the thick white quilt, the padded mattress he'd traded a month's worth of kitchen gadgets to Vanilla to get his hands on. _Right, the Blue Typhoon's sickbay_. _I remember it came to grab us from_…oh, great, just thinking about everything that had happened in Eggman's base made him physically ill. And it also explained what Sonic had said about stitches. Hopefully whoever cleaned him up had made sure to get the rest of the debris out first.

Well, the rippling nausea was strong enough that he wasn't going to get any more sleep just yet, so he started pressing up against Sonic's gentle pressure. His brother wasn't forcing him down, just making sure he didn't jerk around too much, and considering how much repair work he had probably needed that could only be a good thing. He pushed into the mattress to lever himself up. They'd left his gloves on this time! Finally! _And they're _my_ gloves too_. He frowned and tried to figure out how that had happened. Not the cheap imitations Sonic had bought with him in Soleanna but instead the same snug-fitting, well-worn, vaguely greasy gloves his big brother had given him once upon a time and that he _thought_ he'd lost forever a few days ago. _I didn't ruin his presents after all_! That was the most energizing thought of the bunch, and he shot upright through the startled Sonic's hold.

And immediately regretted it as his entire abdomen ran into a red-hot brand. Well, that was what it felt like, and he'd had a few near-miss experiences that made him an authority on the subject. He and Sonic hissed in unison – _great_, _I've got him worried again_ – and Tails settled back down. He kept his head crooked over to look at himself, though, and felt that he deserved the little hysteric fit that followed. At least his brothers were there to keep him held down.

It took him a minute and quite a few deep breaths to settle down again. _I knew I got hurt, but…not that bad_. There was a crescent cut into his chest, scar tissue already forming and whitening over the fur, and he could see the telltale staple patterns of heavy stitches across it, but that wasn't the worst by far. He hadn't noticed under the blanket at first, but he had been shorn from his stomach all the way down to his thighs, and dead white skin flaked and curled up around the network of cuts and stitches. He hurriedly pulled the quilt back over him so he wouldn't have to look any more. Now that he knew it was there, though, the plush quilt suddenly started to scratch at him, and he could feel the same harsh touch in little spots across his back.

"I really messed up, didn't I, Sonic?" he asked softly.

His brother just shrugged, keeping up the pressure on Tails's shoulders. "_Got_ messed up, sure, but that happens to everyone."

_Okay, but why did I let it happen to _me? Tails knew better than to ask that question, especially after the disaster on Angel Island. Speaking of which, Knuckles edged around the partition and came up next to Sonic. "Look at that, Tails, you've got a guardian crest of your own now!" The echidna let out a booming laugh as he gently traced the crescent scar on the fox's chest, but Tails could tell he had really struggled to come up with that bright side, and the way Knuckles's head slumped proved it. "Maybe you can do more with it than I did."

Tails frowned. What was Knuckles talking about?

"Hey! Let him rest, Knucklehead. We can deal with this later." Sonic was back to snapping at people he thought might threaten Tails. Wonderful.

While Sonic was talking, Tails took a brief look around; it was hard to tell for sure around his two friends but that jungle outside looked awfully familiar. "Knuckles," he asked with trepidation, "are we where I think we are?"

"Yeah," the echidna said bitterly. "And yes, the skunk's grunts brought the Master Emerald back two days ago. We've been sitting here ever since while they waited for you to wake up."

"None of them know how to fly this thing," Sonic added promptly, and Tails giggled a little. Good, at least his lungs were clear. If all the damage was on the surface he should be back to normal fairly soon.

"What do you mean by 'the skunk's goons' though?" Tails asked. "Geoffrey tried to warn us, right?" He thought that was how things had happened, at least; he might be wrong.

Knuckles coughed. "You honestly buy that, Tails? Look, if he went down with the rest of us then why isn't he locked in here? You and Cream were out because they were putting you two back together, but he's got no excuse."

"Locked in here?" Tails didn't enjoy parroting Knuckles's information but he really didn't know what was going on. "This is sickbay, how'd they lock anything? And who's locked in here?"

"Look around, kid!" Knuckles whirled and sunk his fist into the wall – and, to Tails's amazement, it bounced right back out off of some black material he didn't recognize. "Just look around you, or is that too hard to do?"

Sonic swatted Knuckles's arm down. "Hey, there –"

"We don't have _time_, Sonic! When this place hits the ocean it's going to flood the whole region!" Wait, hadn't Angel Island been over the desert in the middle of nowhere when he fell out of it? Man, he really _had_ been out for a while. The fox's spine started tingling and he let his memories run for a second. No, he had been dreaming last night, false alarm. Cosmo again, but mixed in with that gang from Emerald Hill Zone. Probably his brain trying to explain away all the injuries – and maybe the surgery too, come to think of it. That…person with the needles had been there, hadn't he? He was still shivering, but at least he wasn't back in that tank. He could deal with everything else.

Great. His brothers were still at it, weren't they? "Knuckles, slow down."

"Slow down? Coming from you, hedgehog?" Okay, Tails had to admit Knuckles had a point there. He wasn't going to weigh in, though; anything he could say would just get one or the other even madder.

"Hey, _you're_ the one going on about duty. I'm just living up to mine." Sonic flashed Tails a thumbs-up, making perfectly sure Knuckles saw it.

Knuckles's voice went completely flat, and Tails drew the quilt up, not quite daring to hide under it. "My duty's not just to you, Tails. I've got to remember that. Without the Master Emerald an entire country might be about to get the Perfect Chaos treatment, so I've got to get it back. And I need you awake and alert for that, and I need you there now."

Tails really did duck under the quilt as Sonic lunged at Knuckles, shoving the echidna back against the wall. A very painful electric "pop" echoed through the room, followed by a soft thud that sounded remarkably like two bodies toppling into the side of a bed. The fox only lowered the blanket when a much lighter body climbed up on the bed with him.

"What were Mister Knuckles and Mister Sonic arguing about?" Cream waved down at the two tangled bodies and Tails started to smell an ozone tang in the air. Well, that explained why they hadn't just used the window. He waved a hand dismissively at the rabbit, noticing as he did that she had a fresh dress on – well, for a certain definition of "fresh," considering the wrinkles and the dust. Maybe she had left it behind from the first trip or something. It didn't matter.

"Sonic was worried about me; Knuckles wanted me to help us break out." Simple enough, and even if tempers had flared there hadn't really been anything else to it. "Plus a little bit over whose side Geoffrey's on at the moment, though I guess I was the one who brought it up." And that had gotten Knuckles talking, which dragged Sonic into it…great, the argument came back to him after all, didn't it? No wonder Sonic had wanted to talk to Knuckles in privacy back before the fall.

"They touched the window again, didn't they?" Cream scowled. You'd think they'd learn."

Tails chuckled. "You know how they get, Cream. Learning's got nothing to do with it when they butt heads." Okay, that was a little mean, but it was also true. "You know, though, I still think I'm right about Geoffrey. That he's working with us, I mean." Cream picked up her uninjured ear – and boy, did it do Tails's heart good to see even that little touch – and motioned for him to go on.

"Cream," he said as he eased himself out of bed, landing tenderly above Sonic and Knuckles, "why else would he have given me my ship back?"

* * *

This _had_ to be deliberate. Geoffrey had not only kept the ship waiting on Angel Island while Tails woke up, but he'd left the fox unsupervised with his own computers. All right, it was the medical computer, but he still had access to the power grid and more than a few remote cameras. Originally they'd been there to let the "medic" – usually Cream or Cosmo – know where someone was and how badly they'd hurt themselves, but right now Tails was putting them to a much more pragmatic use.

"So Knuckles is half right, Geoffrey _is_ on the bridge – well, auxiliary at least," the fox muttered to himself as he flipped through the signals. He owed five different zones his soul – well, all right, the "sole and uncontested service" of the Blue Typhoon, which was fairly close – in trade for the materials that had gone into this thing; time to make them useful again. "Ow. Man, that's a lot of guns." There had to be forty, fifty people out on the deck, each either in a weapons nest or beside one with a box of ammunition. He'd never wanted anything like that on his ship, and he swallowed hard to force down a lump in his throat. _I just wanted to explore, not_…_that_.

The holes in the hull were still there, though; presumably the team that patched the ship up had just focused on getting the wiring fixed enough to let it fly again. And since they were still grounded, that made this breakout one of the easier ones the fox had engineered lately. _Right, sickbay power on, and – wait for it – power _off_ again_.

He heard Cream gasp from over behind the partition where she was putting Sonic and Knuckles back together. "Tails, I, um, I think I heard something crackling. And where'd the lights go? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Cream, nothing," Tails replied with a remarkably feral grin. "In fact, it's finally going right again. How are they doing?" Right on cue Sonic groaned, and the fox gently lowered himself from the chair and made his way around the corner. "Big bro, you all right?"

The hedgehog stared at him with one bleary eye. "I hate it when that happens." Just fine, then. "Knuckles go down too?" Tails nodded, and Sonic sagged backwards. "Man. Didn't mean to do that. Well, a little."

What did he say to something like that? Probably something completely different, actually. "I think I've got whatever that electric trap is shut down. I definitely powered down the room, at least."

"Tails, what are you doing up?" Sonic demanded as he hopped down. "I don't want you pulling those stitches out on me, big guy."

Tails waved his hand dismissively. "I'm okay. I'll just take it slow…actually," that wicked grin was back, and he saw Sonic's eyes light up as the hedgehog noticed it, "I might not even need to go climbing outside the ship. Tell me, how's the air conditioning here been?"

And Sonic's eyes narrowed again. "No. You are _not_ climbing through the ducts, Tails, and that's final." Oh, right, he had been unconscious the last time Tails had to go through those.

"Don't worry so much. I had to rewire the whole place when I set it up so I made it as smooth as possible." And that was how he had ended up indebted to the _rest_ of the Acorn Zones. He turned around, sizing up the overhead air return. "If you'll give me a boost I can get in there and move around as much as I want. No sharp edges, not too much dust, and I can get cleaned up once we're done anyway." He reached around in his tail fluff – what was left of it, at least; his tails weren't any better off than the rest of him. "Hey! Where'd my screwdriver go?"

"Right here, Tails." Oh, Knuckles was awake. That was good, but it had the potential to be very, very bad too. The fox stuck his hand out behind him and felt the comforting weight of Sonic's screwdriver slapped into his palm. "You might not trust Tails. I do." Tails couldn't help it; he turned back to look at Knuckles. The echidna was being completely serious. "You weren't there to see him turn the ship against Shadow. If Tails says something about the Blue Typhoon, _listen_."

Sonic's lip curled up in a snarl. "Yeah, because I was actually trying to _help_ him back then! Don't use my little brother just because _you_ aren't feeling up to it."

The room went completely silent. Tails wanted to protest, wanted to tell Sonic off, but at the same time he didn't dare raise his voice to his big brother, not right now. Besides, Knuckles would never forgive him if he beat the echidna to the punch.

Except Knuckles didn't. In fact, he wasn't even looking at Sonic. "It's your choice, Tails. And before you say 'he's going to get in over his head,' Sonic, at least let him speak." Great. Just like that whatever happened was back to being his responsibility.

"I, um," Tails's namesakes fluttered nervously behind him, bunching up and relaxing, heedless of the fresh scar tissue spread all across them. "I, ah, I –" _ Come on, Tails_. "Sorry, Sonic. I'm going for it. I've got to help out somehow, and I know the ship better than anyone."

The hedgehog still looked distinctly sour. "Okay. But take Cream with you, all right?"

"No problem," Tails replied immediately. She'd be safe up with him anyway, safer than dodging artillery outside or waiting alone here for someone to come looking for them.

"And if you start bleeding – or anything – I want you to promise me you'll sit right where you are and let Cream go on ahead." Tails wasn't sure whether he should resent that or not. On the one hand it was common sense, but on the other it sounded like Sonic trusted Cream more than him. And on the first tail, he was hurt badly enough right now that he wasn't entirely sure how much he trusted _himself_, so all in all he could see where Sonic was coming from. "_Promise _me that, little bro."

"I promise, okay?" Tails drew his tails up across his shoulder. He hadn't really meant to get huffy, but Sonic was being ridiculous today! "Now, Knuckles, you think you can hold me up to that grate while I get it open?"

* * *

The last time Tails had crawled around in these vents he had been scared halfway out of his mind, hiding an even more frightened girl from a hunter who could rip them both apart with ease. The only real difference this time was that the girl was practically shoving him down the crawlway in her eagerness. The fox smiled to himself. When had Cream gotten so fiery?

Wherever she had gotten it, he could use some fire himself. There might not be any sharp edges in here, since the vents were carved directly into the bulkhead instead of dangling down off of it, but that didn't do a thing for the refrigerated air that constantly poured past them. Maybe that was why the little rabbit had so much energy; between his fur and her dress she might actually still be _warm_. Lucky girl.

"Um, Tails?" He quickly held up a hand to shush her. He looked along the hallway a bit. Good, no grates nearby here, although there had been one fairly close behind them. There probably wasn't anyone down there right now either. He couldn't turn around in here without risking some of the stitches in his side, so he made a beckoning gesture with that outstretched hand instead. "Tails, where are we actually going?"

"The bridge," he whispered back, still worried that Shadow might be closing in. _Wrong version, fox_. Well, there might be a patrol right under them, or maybe Geoffrey had them bugged. He just felt like he needed to keep quiet. "Geoffrey's up there with one or two other people; if we can get the drop on them we can just grab the ship right back and give Sonic and Knuckles some help.

"Okay." Cream took a moment to digest that information. "How are we going to get up there?"

Tails dropped his head against the bulkhead, subtlety thrown to the winds for just an instant. _Up_. Right. Not a problem any other time, but not an _option_ either when he could only move in two dimensions at a time. But it didn't have to be insurmountable. "Um." Where were they relative to everything else? He'd shunted them port at all six junctions so far, which since the sickbay was on the starboard flank put them about halfway along the ship but barely a sixth of the way through it. "Next left we go straight through. We'll come out in the elevator shaft and that'll be big enough for me to climb up safely." He hoped. _Well, Tails, you don't want Sonic any more desperate than he already is_. _ You'd better make it work_.

Half an hour or so of scrabbling later Tails brought his tail forward and reached for the screwdriver again. "We're here, Cream." No psychotic red-black hedgehog chasing them this time either, that was a relief. He couldn't get at the screw heads, so instead he used the driver shaft as a lever to work the grate off. He made sure to hold onto it as it finally came loose, since it would really be a waste if it fell down and let the whole ship know where they were.

The little fox carefully eased his muzzle out over the lip. There was still sunlight from above, trickling in through the slagged main bridge, which meant the elevator car was safely below them. "Okay, Cream, we can go now. If the elevator starts moving, remember to just ride it up. With the main bridge wrecked it can't crush us or anything." Well, it could still do some damage if they got caught between it and the wall, but he was going to make completely sure that didn't happen. "Grab my legs and get ready to tumble a bit, this is going to be awkward." And very likely painful, at least on his end, but it should be over quickly enough that even Sonic couldn't complain.

Cream held onto his ankles firmly and Tails inched forward, flopping over the edge. He'd have done this all in one motion if not for the stitches, and even now he had to wonder if that would have been the better option, but for all the rib-bruising impacts his injuries were all still holding as he fell out of the crawlspace and dragged a startled Cream down after him. Now to see if his tails were actually going to _work_ this time.

They did, though dried ointment split as they whirred up to speed, and Tails had to bite his tongue to avoid letting out a whoop as he felt the adrenaline flow out. It robbed his injuries of their sting, gave him back the breeze and the sky even though the air in here was stale and dark. He really was back, and he felt everything from his ears to his toes shoot up with the sheer thrill of it. _Okay, focus, Tails_. _Get to AuxCon, you can joyride later_.

"Tails! Elevator!" Cream hissed out the warning and the fox grudgingly slowed down to meet the hurtling cab. _Not a full stop, it needs to catch us but not clobber us_, _easy, Tails _–

The impact added a few extra bruises to his haunch, but at least it was a relatively undamaged area. "Cream, you okay?" he whispered.

"Oof." Well, she was quiet, and even if it hadn't been the most detailed reply it was still fairly close to what _he_ would have said in the same situation. Not bad then.

_This thing's almost got to be going to AuxCon_. _So we let whatever happens happen and then drop in through the escape hatch_. Tails curled up as best he could – which tragically wasn't very, not that he could have draped himself in his tails right now either – and counted off the interminable thirty-seven seconds as the carriage lifted them higher.

Finally the door below them dinged open, and Tails straightened out immediately. "Okay, Cream, help me get this hatch off." _Again_. He was so nervous now he had almost subvocalized the whole request, but the rabbit gave him a determined nod and set to work. It was much harder to get the hatch open from this side, but at least they weren't both asleep on their feet this time around. Besides, in the fox's impatience a three-minute job could easily have felt like days.

They might as well hold on to the element of surprise for as long as possible, and besides, the hatch wouldn't go back down into the elevator car anyway, so the duo dropped down inside as gently as they could. Tails still felt something jar where he'd much rather it didn't but there wasn't any blood yet, so he hadn't technically broken his promise to Sonic. After a last deep breath he met Cream's eyes and they nodded in unison. Then the fox pressed the Door Open button.

* * *

It was hard to for Tails say who was the most surprised – the epauletted skunk at the command chair, him and Cream, or the two tied-up and gagged heroes stuffed under an overhanging console and watched by some certainly _very_ confused Downunda troopers. "Um…what?" was all the fox could get out before Geoffrey started clapping. It was a sarcastic slow clap at first, but it quickly sped up to genuine applause.

"Well done, you two. I wasn't certain how you'd make it here, to be honest, and if you'd been maybe five minutes faster you might have accomplished something with it. Pity, really." He tossed his head at the soldiers, who made menacing gestures at Sonic and Knuckles with the same rifles the Shamar guards had carried. "I couldn't let these two run around, of course, but I was genuinely curious to see what had happened to you after you got in the vents. Very well done."

Sonic made a series of muffled noises, and Tails felt they were all lucky the words had been swallowed by the cloth in his mouth. _So I was wrong about him all along. What a surprise_.

"Well, since Knuckles here has been…unwilling to explain the mechanics of the Master Emerald to my engineers, I felt I ought to offer both of you a greater incentive. Over there!" he barked suddenly, and one of the soldiers left his position to come claim the young duo.

"Cream, get behind me, get up the elevator, and _run_," Tails muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "There's got to be something you can do." He braced himself squarely between the soldier and his friend, and smiled grimly as he heard her duck away behind him. "Coming?" he asked with much more confidence than he felt.

"I'd rather not hurt any of you," Geoffrey said, still sublimely confident. "But since all three of you are here I'd like to remind you I have that _option_. Tails, if you want to help me, I won't do anything to Sonic. And Knuckles, if _you're_ in the mood this time then _Tails_ will be safe."

The echidna had worked the gag out of his mouth – or possibly bitten clean through it, which wasn't too unbelievable right now. "Don't you dare, Tails." The soldier near them leveled his rifle squarely at Sonic, and Tails didn't need to look to know his escort was doing the same. At least Cream was safe, but she wouldn't be able to get him out of this situation. Nothing she could do could come fast enough.

"Which will it be, I wonder? Which will it be?" Geoffrey mused. Tails looked directly at his big brother, green eyes spitting defiance at their captors, shoulders set dead-on against the armored figure before him, and the fox gave him a final weak smile.

_I'm sorry, Sonic_, _Knuckles_. _I've only got one choice_. _Please don't be too mad_.

* * *

Author's Note: This chapter marks page 206 in the unedited manuscript version, and in another two or three chapters I'll officially have hit twice the length of my former record. Somehow I thought this would be longer, and yet at the same time I also felt like it would be shorter. Strange, that.

As always, I appreciate feedback, particularly the detailed and constructive kind.


	18. Outfoxed

Tails stepped forward as solidly as he dared on his damaged feet. "Ask away, Geoffrey. I'll tell you," he swallowed hard. "I'll try to explain what I can." Knuckles responded with a primal roar that set what was left of Tails's fur on end, but the fox couldn't back down. _Trust me, Knuckles_._ Just this one, I actually know what I'm doing_.

"Much better," Geoffrey said. "See, echidna?" He didn't even try to hide his contempt. "One can learn anything with the right incentives. Now, Tails," he stepped forward and took a gentle hold of the fox's shoulder. Tails bristled and glowered at the much larger skunk, but he managed to tamp down his urge to twist away. "I'll take you to Engineering myself. You two, watch the prisoners while I'm away," he barked at his soldiers, changing his tone so quickly the fox didn't have time to cover his ears. _Please be careful, these are the real ones now_.

Tails looked back over his free shoulder as they walked back into the wide-open elevator. Knuckles had his eyes shut against the world, looking like he was at once denying what he had just heard and planning what he would do to the fox once he got free. Sonic, though, was looking levelly into Tails's eyes, and the fox could have sworn he saw his big brother give him a halfway-wink. At least _he_ understood, and that made the rest of this so much more bearable. Then the elevator started to drop, and Tails couldn't look back through the open door, not with the metal wall rushing by, close enough to touch and therefore close enough to rip off a careless limb.

Easier to find some other way to distract himself. "Whose side are you on?" he said, looking directly up at Geoffrey. The question seemed to take the skunk by surprise, because he grunted and fidgeted a little before answering.

"I'm surprised you even need to ask that question."

The little fox glared at him. Easy for _him_ to say! "Look, none of this makes sense. You helped me out back on the fleet, and I'm not buying that you knew _nothing_ about what was going to happen in Shamar. Even here, you locked me alone in a room with my computers, and you guys didn't even change the password! But then I get up to the bridge and," his lip curled as disgust rippled up, "_that_ happened. And that, even after Sally told me you were really working for _her _all along! Make up your mind, will you?"

The skunk just laughed, a long and surprisingly cheerful sound considering the situation. "Oh, my mind's made up. It's been that way quite a while, my friend. But I'm sure you'll be able to sort things out for yourself eventually. Since you're answering my questions, I might as well listen to any you have for me."

"You haven't answered the first one yet," Tails pointed out. "But all right, I guess you're not making this easy for me." Geoffrey nodded enthusiastically, reminding Tails incongruously of himself, and even in this situation the fox had to laugh. "So, um, how did you find us? Down in those ruins, I mean?"

"Now that's a clever question, Tails. You mean Eggman's base, of course – and yes, I know what it was. That giant robot chasing you was a dead giveaway." He chuckled again. "My team was finishing up repairs on your ship when we saw Angel Island come in overhead. We just recorded where Sonic and Knuckles disappeared and decided to come join you when we finished work. Simple. If we had been there two, three minutes later we probably would have landed on you."

Tails frowned. "I'm not buying that either. I mean, you timed that so perfectly I can't believe you just took a lucky guess." _Of course, what I'm really saying is _"_Why can't _I_ ever be that lucky_?"

Geoffrey took a deep breath, levity fading away. "Tails, Tails. When did I ever ask for your trust? I provided an answer to your question. You wouldn't believe me if I insisted it was the truth, but I won't back away from it either. That's the best anyone can offer, isn't it? An answer." Something about the way the skunk's eyes narrowed set Tails shivering.

_He knows. He knows what I'm trying to do_. But there wasn't any other option but to try. Cream needed all the time he could buy, and if she failed he'd have no choice but to give Geoffrey everything he wanted. It was too much to ask of his little friend, but he hadn't had any choice, and now neither did she.

* * *

Tails heard Geoffrey lean against the wall behind him, but the fox was too busy taking in the assembled engineering team. When he heard the word "scientists" he pictured either white lab coats like the one Chuck always wore or else crisp suits, but everyone here was helmeted and outfitted with light armor, the type meant to ward off shrapnel when things went wrong – flak armor, if he recalled his human video games correctly. _Might be worth getting a suit of that myself_, he thought with a mental snort. Then his eyes fell on a sullen little fox tucked away in the corner, and suddenly things made even less sense.

"Doctor Constantine? How're you here? I mean – you were in – except…gah." Tails massaged his temples furiously.

"All right, so you found me out," the other fox snarled. "All three sides of this war asked me to spy for them, and I said yes one after the other. It's not like I know what I'm doing here either; Mazula sent a helicopter for me and next thing I know we're getting shut down by this crazy airship."

Tails supposed he should resent that comment about the Blue Typhoon, but the doctor had raised a much more urgent question. "What do you mean 'three' –"

"What you're doing here, Doctor, is making sure our friends all come through this misadventure as intact as they're going to. If Tails looks like he's getting fatigued, or worse, you march him straight back to sickbay."

Constantine still looked mutinous, but he settled back into his chair and braced a pen and notepad like the others. Tails was still more interested in this mysterious third side to the war, although at this point he supposed that Geoffrey counted as a faction all to himself. Or maybe the doctor meant Sonic; the way his brother had been lately he wouldn't be surprised if Sonic had bribed Constantine to look after Tails. _Not important right now_. _Right now, you need to tell so much of the truth no one's going to have a clue what you're saying_.

But he kept distracting himself with the new puzzle anyway. Geoffrey had been blindingly obvious with that attempt to drown out Tails's question, which just felt _wrong_ to the little fox after what had already happened. He might be trying to hide something, but on the other hand he might instead be trying to draw Tails's attention to that. And on the first tail, he might _want_ Tails puzzling over one statement when the important one was somewhere else, but on the second tail…bah, why couldn't people just say what they meant and leave it at that?

"Is there a problem, Tails?" Geoffrey asked from over his shoulder, and the little fox jumped.

"Uh, no. Just, ah, organizing my thoughts." True enough. "Does anyone have some water? Unless you fed me intravenously or something I haven't had real food in two weeks." Well, that hadn't gotten the sympathetic reaction he had hoped for, although from the looks of things everyone else there just wanted this all to be over as soon as possible. _My sentiments exactly._

"Well then, um, this ship is originally a decommissioned dreadnought from the Acorn Kingdom, although you knew that already, I'm sure. Um, the flight deck is my idea, and the flight _bay_ is really only there because that section of the original ship rusted away. But what I guess you're really here for is the power source, right? Knuckles's Master Emerald?" Blank looks. He was getting there already. _Come on, Cream, I don't know how long I can keep this up_. "Well, it's an artifact – or maybe a natural formation, no one knows – of enormous power, but that power tends to manifest in very specific ways. It can heal serious injuries, keep Angel Island in the air, let out an electromagnetic field strong enough to energize the whole ship – or overload it, that's how we crashed out here in the first place – and a few other things. As for how it works, well, we've got a few theories…."

Tails rambled on, ignoring the dryness scratching at his throat, and his thoughts started to wander. He was hardly aware of what he was saying anymore or if it even made sense, although logic wasn't exactly crucial when working with chaos. No, he kept turning back to Geoffrey's earlier cryptic behavior – well, the newest batch of cryptic behavior, at least. He was going to go with the simplest option, he decided; Geoffrey probably just wanted him to pick up on some hidden meaning, and if he got himself buried in doublethink he'd never get anywhere. After all, Geoffrey had said the best thing someone could do was offer an answer. He snuck a look over his shoulder at the skunk as he paused for breath. Not only was Geoffrey not paying attention but he looked like he was mumbling something under his breath. Whatever it was was nice and rhythmic – counting, maybe?

"So there's more than a little ritual involved. But that probably isn't the trigger on its own," _and Knuckles would murder you in your sleep if you told them the details_, "since a few people – myself included, actually – have tapped the Emerald purely through technology. That only works when it wants to, though, so don't rely on it."

But what answer…he had commented when Tails had mentioned finding their little group underground in Eggman's base. Well, just outside it, but the sentiment was the same. He still didn't buy the argument Geoffrey had offered, there were too many coincidences. And speaking of coincidences, why would Doctor Constantine of all people have ended up here? A commando team this size was sure to have its own doctors attached, and it wasn't like the sickbay aboard the Typhoon was all that hard to use. He didn't know about the surgical ward, but then again aside from cleaning it out every so often none of his friends had known what to do in there in the first place…wait. _Surgery_.

"Um, what was I saying? Oh, right. Um, the seven Chaos Emeralds are tied into this directly, and they can be tapped more personally. But the Master Emerald is a giant on-off switch for them if it decides to listen to you. Um, from there, I…oh, right!" "_Oh, right_" _indeed_.

_Doctor Constantine worked on me twice while I was a robot_. _He said he practically scrambled to be the only one to work on me in Soleanna, too, even though he had to fly all the way past that blockade_.

_He _knows_ about Eggman_.

Now that strange "third faction" comment made terrible sense, and at the same time it fed back in to the skunk's dropped hints too. _I asked him what side he was on, and he got suddenly interested when…I brought up_…_Eggman's_..._base_.

It took Tails a supreme effort not to run screaming for the door.

* * *

Instead he forced himself to come back to the moment. What had he been talking about? "Um, so I guess what I've really been trying to say is that every time I try to figure this thing out scientifically all I can come up with is 'Chaos only knows.' Heh, literally, I guess. Um, are there any questions?" _Man, how'd I manage to keep my voice that level_? _I mean, I'm standing on the outside but I'm running on the inside_.

"Yes, Tails. Several." At least, he thought that was what the young raccoon woman said; her accent was thick enough to walk on.

Geoffrey chuckled behind him, only now the sound set Tails's fur on end. "Sixteen minutes forty-seven seconds you've been talking and you still haven't actually said a single thing. Think you might go into politics when you grow up?"

Seventeen minutes. Counting transit time, he'd scored Cream over half an hour to work. If she hadn't made her move yet, she probably wasn't going to be able to. Time to go out on a limb here, because he didn't dare surrender now. He couldn't go back in that tank again! _No, bad fox_! _It's not you that matters here. It's Cream and Sonic and Knuckles_. _You know what to expect; if you have to go back there to keep them out then you'll _handle_ it_. His conscience was right, of course, but that still didn't make him at all interested in giving in.

"Not really, no. I'd much rather make things like _this_ happen!" He twitched his nose as dramatically as he could at the camera he knew fed back to the bridge, and felt extremely silly as nothing at all happened. The sniggers started to rise from the table when suddenly the booming crack of emergency shutdown echoed through the hull. _Figured that was going to happen_.

Geoffrey started his slow clap again. "Oh, well done. I hadn't expected little Cream to overpower two armed guards, but I'll know better next time. Of course, that still leaves you here with us, and I'd imagine the door is closed just as tightly here as anywhere else on the ship. Besides," he gestured at the engineering staff with one hand while flipping a strange pistol-like shape out of his breast pocket with the other, "I doubt you'd get that far."

Tails swallowed hard. "Shot while escaping" was a punchline on one of the old television shows Uncle Chuck had shared with him, and he _really _didn't want to be the reason Geoffrey dragged the old phrase out into reality. Then again, the skunk might not want to. "You're bluffing. You wouldn't dare get Sonic angry. That's been your people's idea from the start, too; keep us penned in harmlessly, shoot over our heads and run for the hills whenever we get riled up." It was hard to tell in the low light, but Geoffrey didn't seem to flinch. Had he been wrong?

Well, wrong or not, he wasn't sticking around in this room. The window was still broken from the last time he passed through, which gave him too good an opportunity to pass up. "Okay, not buying that one? Well, you don't have to. That's just the best answer I can give." Man, how did Sonic and Eggman always make that "mocking echo" thing work? Tails shook his head. Right now he had to fly, and he had to set it up just right too.

He turned back to face the scientists. A couple of them had big boxy handguns out, but most of them were tucked away under their chairs. Tails bared his fangs at them, although he had been told he was more cute than threatening when he did that. _Come _on_, Tails, stop stalling and get _out_ of here_!

He jumped into the air, tails flashing around above and behind him, and even though he had to yelp at the sudden pain he knew that Geoffrey's weapon was lying somewhere on the other side of the room now. Preferably in little wooden splinters, although what kind of gun was made completely of wood he had no idea. It wasn't something he was all that interested in anyway.

Even the armed scientists dove out of his way instead of firing as he flitted across the table past them, much to the little fox's relief. He'd torn a much larger hole in the glass than he'd realized at the time, although to be fair it had done the same to him so it was only fair. He nicked the end of one tail as he ducked through but nothing more, and considering all the other damage he was sporting he barely noticed the fresh injury. He reversed his spin and dove for the deck, feeling at least one of the stitches across his back split from the sudden strain. Okay, _that_ one he felt.

Just as he felt the sudden ripping pain as something chewed into his shoulder from behind, nearly pinning him to the deck. He could hear people yelling from above, Constantine and Geoffrey and maybe someone else, but he trudged forward through the dark and the pain towards the shaft and safety. There was a weird burning in his newest wound, and he felt himself tiring rapidly. _Drugged_? _Constantine let him do that_?

It didn't matter. He still had to break away, get back to Sonic, to Cream and Knuckles, and even this wouldn't stop him. His world sped up with him as he rocketed up through the shaft, but as the hatch came ever closer he knew he was slowing down. The world had gone from a crisp clear stream to a sluggish gel as he rolled up and out onto the upper deck, driving splinters from some kind of dart or arrow deeper into his back, and then there was no more energy, no more focus, no more time.

_I thought I was _done_ with the random blackouts_._ This isn't fair_!

* * *

The next thing Tails felt was a pair of very familiar gloved hands cradling him and a warm, humid breeze against his face and side. "Sonic?"

"Tails!" He wasn't prepared for the sheer volume of Sonic's cry. "Oh, man, you're alive!" The hold went from just cradling him to crushing him against his big brother's stomach, but judging from Sonic's word Tails wasn't going to hold that against him. "There was that crossbow bolt, and you weren't moving. I couldn't even tell you were _breathing_. I…" Tails felt rather than heard Sonic's heavy gulp. "That skunk doesn't know how lucky he is I didn't see him down there."

"Don't worry, big bro." Wow, this had to be the first time _Tails_ had had to comfort _Sonic_. It felt strange but…somehow not uncomfortable. "It was some kind of sleeping drug, that's all. Um, a soporific?"

"You got it right this time." Sonic whirled, nearly snapping Tails's neck in the process and denying the fox more than a glimpse of Knuckles. But there was no mistaking that voice. "Just like the fish teeth. For all I know that's where he got it, so you'd better get that cleaned out."

"Already taken care of." Sure enough, the fur around his newest injury felt damp and the skin was smooth and scratchy, so someone had clearly toweled him off. You dropped off the Emerald already, Knuckles?" Tails _really_ didn't like how serious Sonic was acting tonight. Full names, full-body hugs – he'd never seen his big brother this…well, this frantic.

"Of course. The Hydrocity's only hard to navigate when you're afraid of the bathtub." Tails might have had a growing understanding of Sonic's phobia, but he still had to laugh. Sonic relaxed enormously at the sound, giving Tails his lungs back.

"I was worried I'd never hear that sound again. I mean – ah, man. I don't like to admit this, little guy, but you had me really scared there."

"How'd they catch you?" Tails asked. Anything to lighten the mood. The fact that asking about being captured, held hostage, and possibly convinced that he was about to sell them out still seemed _lighter_ was a testament to just how unnerved the whole situation had left him. "I mean, you were out the window and totally clear the last time I saw you."

"Lucky shot," Sonic grumbled.

Knuckles clarified. "They clipped his leg. Nothing serious, but he spun out and smacked himself silly on a rock. I couldn't get past all the gunfire to bail him out, so I had to back down and come quietly."

_He'd surrender just like that for _Sonic? _That has to be the biggest lie I've heard all day_.

"Cream ducked back in for us almost the second Geoffrey ran off with you, so we got to hear your little speech. Hard to believe you stayed awake through the whole time." Sonic rolled his eyes. "I know I didn't."

"Where is Cream, then?" Tails couldn't believe he had let that part slip past him. "She's not –"

"She's sleeping down where I stashed the Master Emerald," Knuckles patted down Tails's bangs, and the kit stretched into the pleasurable touch. "I admit I thought you were really giving in to him, but as soon as you started talking it was obvious what you were up to. So, sorry, Tails. You'd think after all this time I'd know better than to doubt you when you think up a plan."

"Doubt me all you like," Tails said with a rapidly-weakening little laugh. "They tend to backfire most of the time anyway. Even this, it got me shot and we didn't get the ship back either."

"Not that they've got it, though," Knuckles's voice was an immensely satisfied rumble. "Sonic and I cut most of the power lines before we ran. Buys us a few months, and there's no way they're getting through the Hydrocity to where I hid the Master Emerald either. I figure we go get this war over with; we've got all the time in the world now."

"I'd like that," Tails said. "Weird as it sounds, though, I think I need a nap first. I didn't really get any rest while I was drugged." No, no matter what he thought he had figured out there hadn't been anywhere near enough time for Eggman to have locked him up again. Well, maybe, but he'd only be able to tell once he got some natural sleep again. "We can plan some more in the morning, all right?"

For now, though, the little fox was happy to draw himself back into Sonic's furry chest, wind his tails around them both, and relax into the gentle run.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry about the wait, but my first round of essays is over now and I'll hopefully be back to one chapter a day or so for the next couple of weeks.


	19. Reconstruction

_Tails was floating again, motionless, bodyless_. _He knew this feeling now, knew it well enough to be terrified_. _Whatever that gel in the tank had been, he'd only woken up to be himself when it started leaking away_. _He had to warn Sonic when he woke up; he'd never get away otherwise_.

If_ he woke up_. _Eggman knew he knew now; the doctor would never let his prize escape again_. _And Sonic thought they'd already won_. _He'd never go back down there again_. _The fox tentatively twitched his foot_, _and was rewarded with that flood of impossible sensation that refused to leave_. _It felt exactly like it had when he first tried it_. Exactly_ like it had_….

_Tails was curious now, curious enough to try an experiment_. _He'd tried to walk the last time he had been in the tank, but he hadn't used his arms until the electrodes came popping off_. _This time, though_…_the young fox started to smile, only to be forcibly reminded what a bad idea that was when another packet of nonsensical nerve impulses came flooding in_. _Except, just maybe, this was the right kind of nonsense to make sense of_. _He tried to focus through the overlapping signals, to decide whether his lips felt like his foot or not, if he was just imagining this whole experience and filling in the holes with his memory or if it was really happening all over again_. _Or if there was even a difference_.

_Chaos take this, _where was he?

"_This is getting you nowhere, Tails._"_ That was true enough_. _Also, hadn't he had that exact same set of thoughts the first time around_? "_Either you're in the tank or you aren't_. _Let's try to figure out how you could have gotten back there, shall we_?"

_ That was easy, though_. _Too easy_. "_Geoffrey and Constantine were alone with me for more than a day, and they both all but confessed to working with Eggman_. _They could have turned me back in anytime and Sonic would never have known_." _Chaos, but he hoped that wasn't what actually happened_.

_Another sensation filtered through, this one somehow stronger than the rest_. _It was almost like_…hands_ on his shoulders_. _Or it would be, if he still had shoulders_. _The fox tried to giggle, and at the speed of thought his mouth added another stack of false signals to the old one_. _Great_….

_He thought for an instant that he might have drowned out the foreign sensation with this new batch, but it was strong enough – or maybe just different enough – that he could still make it out with enough effort_. _His whiskers and cheek fur twitched with the struggle_. "_You'd think I'd learn_."

"_Hold on, though_. _I didn't have this kind of control when I was actually in the tank, did I_?" _No, false lead. After all, he'd been able to twitch enough to set off the chaos back then too_. _Now he was just more conscious of what might or might not be going on_. _Of course, that meant that he might _really_ be dreaming this after all_, _his traitorous brain filling in for the nerve-scanning cables_.

_The outside feeling faded _away. _Tails wasn't sure how he knew that, since he could still feel the vibrations and the pressure, but somehow it wasn't real anymore_. _Just as he started to sink back into oblivion there came a sudden bright flash, and then_…_something_.

* * *

Tails's eyes shot open but the rest of his body was completely limp, still muscleless in its sleep paralysis. There was a clear cloudless sky above him, soft grass beneath his body that tickled his burn scars, the warm damp snugness of his gloves and shoes on refreshingly solid limbs, and the sting of what was going to be a nasty palm print on his right cheek. _Did I really just get knocked back into my body because someone _slapped_ me hard enough_? The fox started to laugh, a jittery giggle that teetered on the edge of hysteria.

"You're awake!" Wait, he had expected a hit like that to have come from Knuckles, or maybe Sonic. But from _Cream_? "You've been shivering for almost an hour. I thought something was wrong."

Only an hour? Maybe it had been a dream after all. "I thought Knuckles put you underground. Are you safe out here, Cream?" He levered himself up on his forearms, rocking himself until he was sitting upright. She looked healthier than he'd seen just about anyone in the past couple of weeks, give or take those strips of her skirt she was using to bind up her hands. _She got that helping me, didn't she_? _Digging out shrapnel and…glass_. His cheeks heated at the memory.

"I'm not the one who looked like he was seizing all morning, Tails," she told him sternly, and his blush deepened. "Tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help you with whatever it was." Well, she was the only other person he knew who had gone through Eggman's experiment.

"I was back…I was back in –" _No. You don't have any right to make her revisit that_. _Bad fox_! Tails shook his head instead, letting his voice drop back to a more normal pitch. "Nothing. It was just a bad dream I was having. _Please let it have been a bad dream_!

Cream walked around in front of him and frowned sympathetically. "Was it Cosmo again?" Tails didn't nod, didn't reply. Cream could think whatever she wanted but he wasn't going to lie to her either. "I, um, I saw her again last night too. Saw her _then_." She broke off, staring down at Tails's feet, and the fox leaned forward to pat her on the hip – the closest part he could reach – with a tail. It was ratty and ragged, but it was still there, and she perked up a little at the touch. "How do you deal with it, Tails? It still hurts and I wasn't even there to see the end of it!"

_I don't_, he wanted to say, but that wouldn't help. "I've let myself get distracted lately. That whole thing with Eggman." And that was the damning thing, wasn't it? He'd forgotten Cosmo, forgotten _Cream_, all because he was locked up in a tank somewhere. He hadn't even been in danger, not immediately anyway, and it had still been more important to him than the death of one of his best friends. He sighed heavily. "Actually, that's what the dream was. Cream!" He hopped up suddenly, grabbing hold of her shoulders far more roughly than she deserved, and she squeaked. The fox quickly loosened his grip. "Sorry."

"What did you see, Tails? This isn't like you at all." _Oh, you have no idea, Cream_.

"I…ah." He knew what he had to ask but he couldn't scrape together the words. "Um, Cream, could you –" _say it, Tails_ "– could you find a stick or something and, um, stab me?" _I have to know_!

Cream recoiled, shrugging off his hands. "What's _wrong _with you?" He made a grab for her again, needed her support, needed her to listen. "I'd never hurt one of my friends and you know it!"

_I would_. _I _did. "Please, Cream, I need to see. I think I might be one of those robots again." His blood, if he had any, ran cold. _She'd have gotten replaced too, wouldn't she_? But she had had a normal dream too. Maybe Eggman was trying to fake them out. _All this doublethink is making my head hurt_.

"You stay right here," Cream said forcefully. "I'm going to get Mister Sonic. He'll get to the bottom of this."

"Tell him I'm going for a walk," Tails told her. "I'm not going too far. I just need to sort out my thoughts, that's all."

Cream was clearly still doubtful, but eventually she nodded. "Stay close to here. Mister Sonic'll be back before you know it." Well, that was a given. And Tails didn't intend to go too far. Still, though, he _had_ to know, and he had a few ideas on how to find out.

So he stretched, pushing his arms over his head, and yawned loudly while Cream scampered off. Then he stepped hesitantly towards the trees on the other side. He could hear a brook burbling over there, and if he couldn't think of anything else by the time he found it he would still be able to answer his question there. But still, he hoped Sonic would get there first. He was more than curious, he was desperate, but still…if he had guessed wrong….

_You're not going to find out standing around here, Tails_. That was true enough, he supposed. His first option was the same one he had given Cream, and he hopped up on the first tree branch he came to and wrung it until it split off and dropped him on his tails. If he wasn't much mistaken a few more of his stitches had just popped, but they weren't hurting him too badly. He looked hesitantly at the sappy branch in his hands, turning it over nervously. It might not even work, he didn't know where to aim it…so much could go wrong. _Well, if you're a robot it won't matter, right_? But he might not be, and he ground his teeth together. The splintered end of the branch was so big, so jagged. It reminded him of that electron-microscope close-up of a doctor's needle Chuck had shown him, and the little fox whimpered as he tossed the stick away. _I won't take that chance_.

Well, not _that_ chance, anyway, but his need for confirmation was still driving him on, and he made his faltering way over to the little waterway he had heard. Even if he couldn't hurt himself, he probably still had the discipline to let someone else do it for him, and he _had_ to know. Of course, the last time he'd been this sure he needed to be hurt was when he'd asked Sonic to cut off one of his tails to make him normal, so maybe he was just as wrong this time – _bad fox_! _If you don't know then all sorts of people could get hurt_.

_Besides, I can't live through a repeat of this morning_. _It's just too scary, and Sonic can't help me inside my own skull_.

He sat down in the silt of the riverbank – the water was much deeper than he had expected, which gave him better odds – and started pulling off his shoes and socks. He managed it oddly easily, considering his usual embarrassment and vulnerability whenever he undressed, but then again vulnerability was the point right now. He screwed his eyes shut, fingers working in the mud as the tension stretched on. He knew this was going to hurt, hurt even worse than stepping on that shard of glass back in Emerald Hill Zone – and _that_ had gotten infected too, so he knew what he was in for – so could the idiot fish hurry up and get _on _with it?

He felt something scaly brush against the pads of his foot and took a deep breath, biting his lips shut. _Any second now_….

For all his dread, he wasn't even remotely prepared for the force the creatures could exert. _Of course I'm worrying over the wrong thing_. He barely had time for that little bit of self-criticism before the blazing splinter in his sole dragged him off the bank into the water. _Oh…dear_. Then the calmness vanished and the screaming and flailing started, but he could already feel himself getting sluggish even as more and more tiny fangs latched onto him. _Well, that answers that question_. _This was still a bad idea_.

Then there was a much heavier splash beside him and a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. He and his rescuer broke the surface spluttering, and the pound of his heartbeat in his ears slackened to give way to the rush of rapids just downstream. The arms started to slacken with an all-too-familiar squawk, and Tails drew on everything he had left. He leapt for the safe warm air, tails flailing beneath him, shedding razor-toothed fish and water alike. The two of them landed hard, and Tails rolled off of Sonic's chest to flop on the riversand beside him.

The injuries had the same cold burn as Geoffrey's bolt had, and Tails knew he wasn't going to be awake for much longer. _It doesn't matter_. _It was all just a bad dream after all, and Sonic saved me again_. _Just like he always does_. _Even in the water, he came for me_.

With the last of his energy Tails curled up next to his big brother, wet and chewed tails safely off to one side. The dampness didn't matter, the pain was already gone. Sonic was here, and the nightmare wasn't, and that was all that was important now.

* * *

_Nothingness_. _Again_. _Hadn't he just figured out that this was a dream_? _Or was Eggman playing along, switching him off whenever he needed to in order to maintain the illusion_? "_Should have thought of that before you got Sonic half-eaten, Tails_."

_It was always like that, wasn't it_? _He hadn't spent the time it would have taken to think through his problems, he had just thrown himself headlong into danger and dragged the people he claimed to care about after him_. _Just like Knuckles said_.

_He hadn't moved anything this time, hadn't even thought about his absent body, so it was a distinct surprise when he felt muddied suggestions of something scratching at his feet and legs and tails. Something coarse beneath an oily spread_. _And there was heavy pressure behind the touch too, the sort he usually associated with_…_Knuckles_? _He had felt Cream's hands on his shoulders this morning; was Knuckles toweling him off now_? _If so, he'd better have taken care of Sonic first_!

Tails just had to check, and he sat up blinking. Knuckles practically slammed him back into the ground. "What were you _thinking_, kid?" he hissed. "I've told you how dangerous the water is every time you've come here. And don't say you fell in, Sonic's already told me you set your shoes aside."

Tails frowned. He hadn't been going to say that! "So Sonic's all right then?"

Knuckles gave a short little laugh. "Not even close. Cream's scrubbing him down right now." Now that the echidna mentioned it, Tails could hear staccato cursing and indignant squeals from somewhere behind him. "Nothing on this island's sterile but the oil on these leaves will ward off at least some of the germs." Oh, right. Infections. Lots of them, too, judging from Knuckles's stories. "So what got into you?"

"Can Sonic hear me?" Tails asked, his voice so small he already knew the answer. Knuckles just waved him on. "Okay. Um, you promise not to laugh, or get too mad with me?"

"_Try me_!" Tails didn't have anywhere to flinch to, so he caught the full force of the echidna's roar. "Seriously, Tails, you've been dodging every question we've tried to ask since we got back to the planet. And yes, that's 'we' meaning everyone. Me, Sonic, Cream, Vector…and then there was that whole thing down in the ruins. You sure you're not a robot or something?"

"No!" Tails squealed, and Knuckles visibly shrank back. "No, that's what this whole thing today was all about."

The echidna relaxed his hold on Tails's chest, turning it from a pin into a pleasant touch, and the fox instinctively squirmed into it. "Man, kid, I'm sorry," Knuckles said, all his rage grounded. "I didn't realize – I guess I can see where you were coming from, then. That explains what Cream told us before Sonic ran off, too. I didn't realize you were thinking so hard about that"

"Wasn't thinking. If I had been I wouldn't have done…that. But last night and again right now, I dreamed I was, well, I was – can _Cream_ hear me?" Knuckles was a bit more amiable this time, looking past Tails in the direction of the persistent yelps and growls.

"Probably not. You want her over here?"

"No!" Tails writhed more emphatically this time. "That's the whole reason I didn't tell her the truth earlier on. I didn't want her to have to think back to," he looked down along his body in shame, "to what happened in that tank."

"Tank? What're you talking about?"

He hadn't seen, had he? "You remember that blue gel that was spilling out all over the place in Eggman's base? It was in the room where you guys met the real me." _I hope this is the real me, at least_. _I think it is now_.

"Yeah, actually, I do." Knuckles frowned. More than usual. "Why do you ask?"

"Because either you or Sonic broke open the holding tank Eggman was keeping my body in. I didn't start to wake up until after the gel got out. And before I woke up, well…that's the part I don't want Cream to have to think about." He was shivering uncontrollably despite the best efforts of the afternoon breeze drifting across the island.

Knuckles nodded. "Whatever it is it's really got you scared, and there aren't many things that can do that." _Liar_. "And let me guess – you've had a couple of nightmares since you broke yourself out –" Tails wasn't sure, but Knuckles seemed to emphasize "yourself" there "– based on what you went through, right. So you panicked and tried to open yourself up and make sure. Great thinking, kid." The echidna looked so tired, and Tails felt a fresh rush of guilt for making him worry like that.

"Knuckles, I'm sorry. I was acting like a child, and I guess I was thinking of myself instead of any of you. No, not 'I guess,' that's what happened. I –"

Knuckles waved a hand. "Tails, stop. Just stop for a minute. I don't want to know the details, but you've clearly been through a nasty few weeks, and you weren't exactly the model of health before that either. And still, you came out of your nightmare and the first thing you thought about was making sure someone _else_ didn't have to worry about it. Get it through your skull for once that you can make a bad call without being a total idiot." He pointed at his chest dismissively. "I mean, look at me and my history with Eggman."

Tails couldn't help but laugh, but it was a weak imitation of the real thing. "Yeah, but you still haven't –"

"It's not a competition, Tails." Just for a moment Knuckles looked softer, more vulnerable, than Tails had ever seen him. Had ever _imagined_ him. "I know I'm argumentative, and Sonic turns everything into a game, but we're not keeping score. Just because you got beat up as a little kid – well, a littler kid than you are now – and had a rough time even after that doesn't make you a bad person. Just a really, really unlucky one."

For some reason that made Tails even more defensive than the reverse would have. "Knuckles, I've met you and Sonic. I've met Cream and Amy and all the others. How can I be unlucky?"

The echidna closed his eyes for a moment, then wordlessly went back to scrubbing at Tails's freshest injuries. As he worked the fox realized he'd popped almost half his stitches, but right now he didn't care. He winced and hissed at all the right times as his friend scrubbed him down. There were still questions, still problems, still things he needed to know, like what he had done to that bear in Shamar. But still, even if he hadn't gotten over himself yet he was grateful for everything Knuckles had said and done.

Everything else could come with time.

* * *

"One more time, Knux, why can't I come?" Sonic was in a particularly whiny mood right now, although Tails knew his brother understood the problem. So instead of making Knuckles explain it all again the little fox jumped in instead. Well, he didn't quite dare to _jump_ right now, even with his shoes back on, but the point still stood.

"Because you and I are going to start rotting at the seams somewhere in the next hour and a half," he said bluntly. He could already feel the telltale itch surrounding his newest injuries – and some of his old ones – that would soon turn into burning and then something else altogether. He'd shrugged it off back when he stabbed his foot as a kit, but it had been possibly the most uniquely painful time of an already unpleasant part of his life. "Plus, we both got shot the last time we were aboard. Knuckles didn't, and plus he's a lot less colorful than either of us."

The echidna puffed out his chest, making its white crescent stand out even more. Tails found himself honestly hoping his scar gave him the same effect one day. "Plus, who's the best treasure hunter you guys know? And don't say Rouge," he added just before Sonic could open his mouth, and all four of them collapsed into laughter. "I'll have every case of antibiotics off that ship before you even notice the burn."

"Unless you see the skunk," Sonic noted, and Knuckles just nodded.

"Unless I see the skunk."

"Really, Mister Knuckles? I thought Tails and Mister Sonic meant more to you than that."

Knuckles actually stumbled, an impressive feat for someone who wasn't moving. "I – they do, and don't you dare quote that, hedgehog. But Geoffrey's driving this whole thing, I'm sure of it. If I can get him we can lock it all down."

Personally Tails felt that Knuckles was being a little optimistic – he didn't want to say _naïve_, of course – but then again he might also be right. And either way he didn't want to get between an honorbound guardian and a spy who seemed to be betraying every side at once. "Don't worry too much. I'm sure Sonic and I'll be fine while you settle up. Just try not to get yourself caught, okay?"

"Me? Get caught? If Sonic hadn't been with me they'd never have had a chance last time!"

For his part, Sonic just laughed and slapped Knuckles on the back. "Get on with it, then." The echidna ducked one more look back before darting off through the fringe of his beloved jungle towards the still metallic bulk of the Blue Typhoon. The more Tails looked at it the more he thought back to when he had first found the thing, a rusted hulk that had run itself aground decades ago. He'd been in heaven when Sonic took him there, and he'd explored the wreck with his big brother for months before they were satisfied. Then he'd started coming out in secret to blow the rust off and repair the old ship, and the day he'd finally finished his three-year-long task was the same day Cosmo came. He wondered for the first time if there had been something important in that. Something jostled him out of the fog of his memories. "Huh?"

"I asked you what you were thinking about this time, big guy," Sonic said as he settled in next to him. "I haven't seen you just wander off like that in forever."

"Oh." How did he respond? "I was just thinking about old times, you know? When we explored the old Typhoon together."

"Come on, bro, you're too young for 'old times!' Heck, _I'm_ too young." Sonic laughed, but it trailed off. When he next spoke he was much more subdued. "Well, I guess things have been kind of different since then." _You, Sonic, have just mastered the art of understatement_. "Between us, too."

Tails's ears perked up. "What are you talking about?" He needed Sonic to go first. If his brother didn't want to hear him out, he wasn't about to drive what was left of their friendship off a cliff.

"Come on, bro, you're smarter than that. Heck, I bet it's running through that brain of yours right now. You won't tell me anything; you just run off and try to solve things yourself. You've done a great job, but it's like you don't want me to know if you want help."

"You've helped enough, Sonic," Tails said, immediately wishing he could walk it back as he saw his big brother's reaction. Sonic leaned back against the nearest tree heavily, quills punching into the damp wood.

"Tails! What do you mean by that?" Cream demanded. _I wish I still had that kind of moral compass_. _Mine's been pointed the wrong way a lot lately_. "Why shouldn't Mister Sonic help you out when you need it?"

"Because you've already done it. Been doing it for two thirds of my life." The kit had a panicked half-grin spread across his face. "And I just use that to put myself in more danger that you have to come save me from. Heck, even right now, you save me from Robotnik and I don't believe you so I go and get eaten by fish instead. You had to go _swimming_ to get me out of that, and now we're both here waiting for Knux to bring back medicine from the ship I couldn't even keep control of!" He slammed a fist into the tree next to him and moaned as the movement pulled more of his back apart.

"Tails, it's…." Cream's protest died as Sonic looked up. His manic grin matched Tails's for sheer desperation.

"Man, I thought you meant – never mind, I…." he looked around for a moment. "No. If we keep running around the problem we're never going to solve it, right? So here it is. All out in the open for you, little bro, and if you're not ready to share you can wait as long as you need to." He took a deep breath. "I thought you meant that sarcastically. Thought you meant I'd let you down one time too many."

Tails blinked. That hadn't even occurred to him, and it wasn't making sense now either. "Wait, what? _You_ let _me_ down? Where'd that come from, Sonic?"

"I couldn't save her, Tails. The one time there was something you legitimately couldn't do yourself, the one time you absolutely had to trust me; that was the one time I couldn't do it anyway."

The fox shook his head vehemently, groaning at the fresh pain but unwilling to constrict himself. "That wasn't your fault, Sonic! And besides, you've had to do everything for me. I wouldn't be alive now if you didn't keep helping me out."

"Same goes for you, or do you know a place I could have rented a spaceship and hired a captain a tenth as good as the one I got? Or hey, remember the ARK?"

"Yeah. I got you killed there, too. Or at least I thought I did."

"We walked into that one together, bro. You might have misspoken, but do you really think Eggman wasn't going to space me if he got the chance anyway?"

Tails was still shaking his head. Sonic wasn't supposed to make excuses for him! "Why do you keep sticking around me, Sonic? I know I asked this last time, but I mean it. I can't keep up with you, I always get in trouble, and my jokes aren't even all that funny. So why –"

"I'll give you that last one, Tails, but come on." Sonic rolled his eyes and winced. "You don't think you mean so little to me that you'd wreck our friendship by making little mistakes, right?" Tails didn't answer. "_Right_?" There was a note of genuine panic in the hedgehog's voice.

Tails scrambled to come up with something. "I, um. Yeah." He couldn't look at Sonic now, couldn't confirm – or worse, deny – his fears. "Yeah, I guess I do think that."

Sonic's fingers worked the soil audibly. "Tails, kid, where'd this come from?" His voice was soft as a tail blanket. "You've never been this scared before. I mean, you didn't want to be alone, I knew that, but you didn't think you _would_ be either."

"I broke my friendship with Cosmo just fine," Tails said bitterly. "And I thought I drove Knuckles off back when all this started. It was just a matter of time."

"Tails." Cream crossed over to him and took a firm hold of his chin. "Look at me and tell me you're not still friends with Cosmo. I know I am."

"How can I be? I killed her."

Cream nodded. "And it still hurts. You said you had a nightmare about her just this morning." Well, no, _Cream_ had said that, but – "If you weren't friends it wouldn't hurt so much, would it?"

Tails tried to protest, but Sonic got there first. "Couldn't have said it better myself." Cream let go of the fox to look over at him instead, and he went on. "I'm going to quote something I heard just a few days ago, and I'd like you to see if you can figure out who said it. Ready?" He nodded nervously. "Okay then. 'He was never as weak as he thought he was, and even if he was he was still_ my friend_.'" The hedgehog doubled down on the last five words and Tails tried to flinch away, but Cream was there again to hold him still.

"That's different," he started to say, but he was at a loss for how. Or even why he was defending the point; didn't he _want_ Sonic to stay his friend for as long as possible? He was still manning this wall he'd built for himself, but there were cracks in it now and the light was getting in.

"Look, Tails, I guess you didn't know you were that strong. And don't say it was anything but strength; if I'd been the one on that bridge I'd never have been able to do it. But that doesn't make you strong enough to break us apart. I don't know anything with that kind of power, and a couple of silly mistakes sure aren't it! So lighten up, bro."

Tails frowned. He really wanted to believe that, but for some reason he was still stuck. "But you just said you were worried _I_ was sick of _you_. Wouldn't that mean –" Man, was _anyone_ going to let him finish a sentence tonight?

"Yeah. Yeah, it would. I still owe you so much from all the times I _wasn't _there when you needed me and I thought you'd finally gotten tired of waiting. I guess I was totally wrong as usual, huh?" There was a laugh in Sonic's voice as he said it, and Tails finally felt his spirits rising. Not just from where they were, either, but from where they had been for nearly three months now.

"Sonic, you don't owe me a thing. I've already said it, I needed someone to blame for a few minutes while I pulled myself back together. I never held Cosmo's death against you."

"Yeah, but I did," Sonic said so quietly Tails thought he imagined it. It was only when Cream asked him to go on that he realized it had been real. "I was so – ah, heck, I'll say it. I was so scared I was going to lose you, one way or the other. I saw you on the bridge a few hours after I gave you that seed back. You were just staring up at the wall, curled up so tight I thought you were about to burst, and you didn't even notice when I came out of the elevator. You didn't look that lonely even back when I first met you and that was when you were as alone as it's possible to get. Then we got back here and you weren't talking to me, and I thought I'd lost you after all. And you've just bounced from one disaster to another ever since." He sighed, settling himself against the tree and twitching to scratch one of his bites against the bark. "We're talking about feeling strong, bro? Well, I haven't felt so _weak_ since I learned to run."

"I'm sorry, Sonic. I didn't mean to make you worry."

"Tails!" His brother glared at him for a moment, then relented. He dug himself out of the tree and walked over to the other two, settling in next to Tails. "I'm always going to worry, because we're friends and that's what friends _do_. You keep getting upset whenever you even think you're doing it to someone else; that's just the way you show it. So lighten up a bit, okay? I'm here to help, always will be."

"So am I," Cream added with a face so serious Tails couldn't help but laugh. She turned indignant and the fox hurried to reassure her.

"Nothing wrong with you either. And," he swallowed, "you've been a big help to me already, both now and…right after Cosmo." It still hurt, but this time he wasn't worried that it was a little softer. "So once Knuckles gets back with our medicine and you say we're good to go, let's get you back to your mom. She's probably just as worried as Sonic's been since they found that robot you."

"Nah, you know why? She knows you're with her, big guy. You'll take care of her kid the way I take care of mine." He patted Tails's head, revealing a bite under his arm the fox hadn't even known was there. "And I don't care what Geoffrey or Eggman or anyone does, I promise nothing's ever going to change that."

Tails didn't know what had changed. Maybe all he had needed to do was say everything he had said, to hear everything he had heard. No matter why, though, Tails was finally willing to take Sonic's word on that one point the way he always had on everything else. _Nothing's ever going to get between us again, Sonic, not even me_. _I promise that too_.

* * *

Author's Note: "Back to updating once a day." Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. Seriously, it took me being laid up in my dorm room all day with allergies that metamorphosed into a head cold just for me to push this one out. That said, I genuinely do know what I want to do with the next chapter and I've got a couple of my easy-schedule days free before my next set of essays rolls around, so I intend to be that much closer to the finale by then. Considering I just aired all of the character motives at once (well, the ones for the heroes, at least) I kind of have no choice but to wind down now. There're two anthro characters from Sonic X that haven't featured yet, and one of them is long overdue to make an appearance considering the subject matter. I figure having Knuckles meet them in private is fitting, though, all things considered.

I made multiple references to JudasFm's stories in this chapter, from the fish (Iksors, from "Sins of the Mothers") to Tails stepping on the shard of glass as a kit or asking Sonic to cut off his tail (seriously one of the most disturbing moments in the otherwise quite fluffy "Rising Star"). Once again, I cannot recommend her stories enough.


	20. Stormbreak

Tails really hated it when he itched. They were hard enough to get at through his fur, and even when he could find them scratching wasn't effective anywhere near as often as it ought to be. And then, of course, there was this kind of itch, the kind that was already giving way to fire around the edges and damp cold in the centers. He didn't dare scratch at _these_ itches, and he'd had to wrap Sonic's hands in a tail to stop his brother from doing exactly that. The last thing they wanted to do was spread the infection any faster!

"You feeling all right, Tails?" Sonic sounded tired, not that the fox had any trouble understanding why. Even without his injuries and whatever the fish and the jungle had shoved down them, he already felt like he was owed a week-long nap. And since Sonic had just been force-fed his own pride he had to be feeling even worse. Afternoon had given way to twilight and the dimness only made sleep even more attractive.

"Fine, yeah," Tails said after a moment. "No fever yet – too early for that anyway, I guess – and it's still more of a really annoying itch than anything else. You?"

"About the same." Made sense. "Sleepy, though. It's been a rough couple of days for all of us."

Tails turned his head carefully to peer around the tree trunk he was braced against. Cream was perched somewhere in the bushes over his shoulder keeping lookout. He'd insisted on it; he didn't want her around to see what happened to infected wounds if he could help it. Plus, she'd also be able to, well, keep watch. When Knuckles got back she could get right to work with the antibiotics, and if one of Geoffrey's men found them first…actually, he hadn't thought about that.

"Sonic, I, ah –" Right. Openness. No more hiding his worries, especially not since ones that weren't even for himself. "What'll happen if Cream sees a soldier coming at us?"

Sonic knocked his head playfully against Tails's. "She lays him out flat and goes back to what she was doing. Seriously, you should've seen her take out those two goons they had watching us." He pitched his voice so that Cream could hear him. "I bet she was holding on to the lip of the elevator shaft or something like that, because the second you went downstairs she came right back in. Got the first guard with a flying kick and used the other one's helmet for a drumkit after that. How do you think we managed to do so much damage to the ship while you were stalling them?"

Tails whistled. He knew Cream was getting tougher by the day, but he'd never really expected her to just flatten those soldiers like that. "Forget about the two of us protecting her, Vanilla. It's the other way around."

Sonic grunted his agreement and then lowered his voice again. "This mess isn't going to last much longer, but while it does I think we need to teach her some caution again. That's the sort of behavior _I'm_ known for, not her."

Tails wasn't quite sure what to say. On the one hand he approved wholeheartedly, but still, if Cream was doing fine and enjoying herself he didn't want to be the one who told her "no." _He's just worrying about her the same way he does about me_. _It'll be fine_.

"Well, you boys won't have to wait much longer. Danger's almost gone." Tails's ears snapped up and he and Sonic groaned to their feet. He _knew_ that voice.

"What're you doing here?" Sonic said. Tails was more immediately concerned with the rubbery texture of a few spots on his back as they scraped against the tree. _Time's almost up_. Then he got his eyes up and understood why Sonic was so concerned.

"Missed you too," Rouge the Bat said from where she hovered just on the other side of the clearing. "It was nice seeing Knuckles again, hammering away at the half-foot rubber wall in front of your med bay. Glad to see he hasn't changed a bit."

Sonic bristled. "Are you coming to some kind of a point, Rouge?"

She nodded, and something clinked in her hands behind her. "I figured he was after something you needed, and since he was in no hurry I thought I could help myself first." She brought her arms around and brandished a stack of white tins. "These interest you?"

"Hey, give those here!" Sonic made a grab for the medical kits, but Rouge easily pulled away as he irritated one of his injuries. "No fair," he complained around his hiss.

"What do you want for them, Rouge?" For reasons he was precisely certain of, he didn't trust the bat. She'd danced between factions back on Earth with even more agility than Geoffrey, and the last time he'd seen her she had been working with Eggman. Then again, who wasn't right now?

"Oh, the usual." She tossed her head casually, jostling her heart-shaped chestplate. "Just where Knucky hid his jewels, same as always."

Despite his injuries Tails plunged forward. "Not until I know those are actually what we need." He raised his voice deliberately. If Cream had gotten the drop on Geoffrey's guards she might be able to outmaneuver Rouge too. He just had to keep the bat looking the wrong way. "Would you mind setting them down so I can check?" He gasped as the hole in his foot went utterly cold. _She'd better have what we're after_. _I really don't want to go through this again_.

The white-furred bat considered it for a moment. "Makes sense, I guess. Don't go trying anything, handsome." Sonic glared at her but stayed back as she spread the tins on the grass. Hinges squeaked as Tails pulled them open. Disinfectant creams, sterile wipes and gauze – not that they'd stay that way for long out here in the jungle – and, to his dismay, a few needles pre-loaded with antibiotic boosters. This was the right stuff, although how Rouge had known exactly what they needed still eluded him. There was a heavier rustle than average somewhere out behind Rouge now, and Tails found himself hoping it was Cream.

"Okay. Well, since you know we're not handing over the Master Emerald I hope you're open to a bit of negotiation."

Rouge frowned. "I'd have thought the medicine would be a bit more urgent. You could always move the stone later, after all."

Tails laughed, but as he did he realized he felt a little dizzy. _Man, this is moving fast_. "Wrong bargaining chip, Rouge. Knuckles'll kill us both anyway if he finds out we traded away any of the Emeralds. Especially that one. So I was thinking we pay you by holding Knuckles back for five minutes or so before letting him chase you. Sound good to you?"

Rouge pursed her lips for a minute, but there was something about her expression that Tails couldn't quite place. Something about the way her face was scrunched up, maybe. He got his answer quickly when she broke down laughing, landing hard and bracing herself on her knees. "Oh, fox-boy, you really thought I'd – oh, that's wonderful. I haven't had that much fun since the last time I saw Topaz." _Who_? The name was familiar, but Tails couldn't quite dredge up who it went with, especially not with Rouge cackling in his ear. "Of course you can use the supplies; Knucklehead himself asked me to take them for him. And just for playing along so nicely I'll give you the other nugget of information I brought with me for free. Well, I'll take that head start too."

That got Sonic's attention. "Other information? What's going on, Rouge? I mean, how'd you even know where to look for us?"

"One thing at a time, handsome." She leaned down to sort through the supplies with Tails. "Are you going to need my help with that?"

He'd never been quite comfortable getting close to Rouge, and if his skin wasn't crawling from the bites it would have an entirely different reason now. "I think I'd rather wait for Cream to get back, or maybe Sonic and I can get each other set up. Thanks for offering." He tugged the closest tin away from her more abruptly than she probably deserved. _Let's see…booster shots first before I lose my nerve, then we can work with the ointments_. "Um, it goes sterilize first then inject – bah. Cream!"

The rabbit crashed out of the trees behind Rouge, genuinely startling the bat. "I guess you didn't need me after all." Tails chuckled. _Great minds think alike_. "So, what can I do to help here?"

"Um, first you can give me and Sonic our, um, our shots. One each. They should be pre-measured, so, ah, yeah. Me first before I run away screaming." _Or curl up in a ball, whichever comes first_.

Cream was already on top of it, fishing out the second wipe in the bunch – probably because the first was already too dirty to use – and scrubbing down a little circle on Tails's arm. He screwed his eyes shut and started whimpering. It was funny how he could stick his foot in a river full of predators but turned into a little kid again when a friend was about to save his life, or at least his week. "How's it coming, Cream?" Her gloved hand was pinching around that little circle but he hadn't felt the needle sink in.

"Hold on a minute, okay? I'm just trying to make sure I've got the vein locked down." Where had she picked up all this knowledge? Vanilla was smart, of course, but she'd never mentioned a medical education, and Tails found it hard to believe she could have taught Cream so much so quickly even if she had.

Well, there was an easy way to find out. "Cream, uh, thanks but – ow!" Well, the needle was definitely in now, and he felt that revolting pressure against the bone as the serum flooded in. "Ow, hey. Um, how do you know what you're doing so well? I mean, I don't know where I'd have even looked to learn it."

"Oh, I read a few interesting things on Chris's computer back on Earth. I wanted to make myself useful when I wasn't watching cartoons or helping Ella with the kitchen." Well, Tails wasn't sure he'd have called it "helping" at first but she'd definitely grown into the role. "Mister Sonic told me some stories about what happened to you and I wanted to know more." He could _hear_ the nausea in her voice as she dug up the memories. "I didn't know skin could turn so ugly, but I guess if it helps me stop yours or Mister Sonic's from doing it again it was worth it. All done!"

Her tone was suddenly cheerful again as she popped the empty syringe out of Tails's shoulder, and he rubbed the spot ruefully. _Wow_. _I didn't realize just how devoted she was_. _Or that she felt useless_…_like I did, I guess_. _I've really been taking my friends for granted so far, haven't I_? _First Amy and now her_.

"Your turn, Mister Sonic!" Cream marched back to the row of little boxes and armed herself anew, and Tails found himself flinching away from the new needle even as she tucked his back in its box for safekeeping. For her part, Rouge was just fluttering off to one side in the dusk light, probably laughing under her breath. Tails didn't even bother to hide his own amusement as Sonic started flailing around and squawking comically. _I didn't know he had a problem with – oh_! _Silly fox_. His laughter solidified into a firm grin as he realized what his brother was up to.

"I didn't realize you were such a big baby, Sonic." Rouge's tone told him that she got the joke too, so Tails kept quiet.

"I'm not, I just – ow! Crazy girls." Cream had finished her task and was already heading back to put the second needle away, but Sonic was still hamming it up off to one side. "Could you toss me one of those tubes, Cream? We might as well all pitch in on this part." A little plastic wedge came flying out of the dark to hit him squarely in the nose, and Tails started clapping as he realized Cream had just tossed it over her shoulder without even looking. _When'd she get so tough, and where was I when it happened_?

He caught the tube aimed at him and pinched the cap open. "So, about this information, Rouge. We've got time now, so go ahead and tell us."

"All right. You've sung for your supper, so here goes." She flapped her way over closer to them and sat down. "There's some sort of treaty talk going on down at Spagonia University. Apparently both sides have had enough of the war – something to do with all of Downunda's planes deciding not to work; you wouldn't know anything about that, would you – so all the leaders from Spagonia and Acorn are going to be in one place while Downunda pulls itself together and goes to meet them."

"That's great news!" Tails's mood brightened so much he was almost surprised it wasn't lighting up the jungle night. "Although I'm kind of disappointed I didn't get to tell them the truth about Cosmo and the Metarex." He wasn't prepared for Rouge to gasp as he said it, although he had a gasp of his own in reply as he spread the cold oil to a particularly sensitive bite. The rubbery texture of bits of his skin was disgusting, but the sooner he got this stuff on the sooner that would heal up.

"You – what about her? About them?" Tails couldn't quite tell through the gloom but he thought Rouge was looking around nervously. _Oh. Of course, the trees_. Suddenly his distaste for his own injuries was almost meaningless as he remembered that footage the bat had recovered of human pilots with roots spreading under their hands and their faces and – _enough_! "What were you going to say, because it's kind of hard to talk peace when you're pumping out your stomach? I worked for the President on Earth, and trust me, I know." For his part, Tails didn't want to.

He shook his head. "Probably not…that. No, from what Professor Pickle tells me this whole thing started when the Metarex mined our Planet Egg and Acorn started dying off, and just coincidentally we put everything back together right after a big attack so Downunda thinks they fixed the planet instead of Cosmo."

Rouge was quiet for a moment. "You realize how silly you're going to sound if you just say what happened out loud, right?"

Tails laughed, more genuinely than he had expected given what was so funny. "Yeah, I tried that. I think the guy only listened because he thought he owed me a favor."

"He _did_ owe you, Tails," Sonic grumbled. Although he couldn't see him, Tails waved his comment away.

"Anyway, it's still something I want to do, and – oh!" His eyes narrowed as he caught what Rouge had really said. "I can't 'just' tell them…but I know what I _can_ do. You think Geoffrey's going to try to get down and see it?"

"Smart kid. Yeah, I heard him ranting and raving at his engineers to get the ship working again, and if it's not he's probably going to leave them all here and take a helicopter down alone. He _really_ doesn't to miss this."

"Tails, what's going on? I don't get it." Cream's voice was the picture of confusion.

Tails looked over in her direction, although it was now too dark for even his night vision to make out details. "I'll explain on the run. Um, are you okay with us, ah, _not_ dropping you off with your mom right away?"

She hesitated. "I really wanted to see her again, but if it means I get to help out I'm fine sticking with you, Tails."

"Don't worry, it's not for much longer," he reassured her hastily. "In fact, you might get to see her soon anyway depending on where Geoffrey's going. Hey, Sonic, when you and Knuckles broke my ship how much damage do you think you did?"

The hedgehog tossed his head in a shrug. Tails knew because of the grunt and the sound of quills digging into wet wood. "Couldn't tell you. I mean, I basically spindashed along a couple of power cables in the halls between the elevator and the engine room before I picked you up, and Knuckles said he was bashing in all the service hatches. Um, those are the little panels with all the wires in them, right?"

Tails buried his face in his hands. "Yes, those are the 'little panels with all the wires in them.' Great, Geoffrey's people won't be able to put things back together in time even if they knew what they were doing in the first place, and they don't."

"Hey, you were happy about it yesterday!"

"That was before we knew there was a time limit. There's no way to fit all of us on a little private helicopter, so we need to make sure the Typhoon's flying again inside the next couple of days so we can ride it back down."

"Okay, now you've totally lost me, big guy." Big surprise.

Tails stood up and walked over towards Sonic, shuffling carefully so he didn't trip over Rouge or something by accident. "This is our chance to end this thing. If I can get the Blue Typhoon down to that meeting, get all of the recordings we have of what the Metarex were up to, I can prove that Downunda's totally wrong! If they're throwing in the towel anyway it might be enough to let everything go back to normal, too. We just need to make sure Geoffrey takes us there with him."

"Well, you sound excited enough about it so I guess you know what you're doing. But…bro, are you sure you're up for it? Going over all those records, reliving what happened, I mean. I don't want you going catatonic on me again, Tails."

"Yeah." There was something in Tails's throat, something that even the hardest swallows weren't removing. "Yeah, I'm up for it." He was clearer now, gaining confidence. He knew what he had to do. "I know it'll hurt, but it'd be worse not to take the chance. Plus, it's like Amy said. Things may have ended all wrong, but we were happy before it." _I didn't think I was, maybe, but there've been so many things I didn't realize lately it's not even funny_. _And even still, I don't think I ever took Cosmo for granted_. _I might not know what was different_ – _I probably never will; feelings are so hard _– _but what matters is that it _was.

"Well, if you're ready then I am." No surprises there, now that the injuries were down to a dull itch under the topical ointment Sonic had nothing to slow him down. "Cream?"

"It's getting late, but I'm still up for it." That determination had to have come from somewhere, and Tails had clearly been looking the other way when she found it. "Are you going to help us, Miss Rouge?"

The bat threw her head back and laughed. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for all the gemstones in the world. Well, maybe for that, but nothing less." Tails heard her wings rustle, and his namesakes wound up behind him as he got ready to fly too. "Besides, anything that rubs St. John's nose in the dust is payment in my book." _Got a history with the government here too, huh, Rouge_?

"Well, if we're all agreed, then," Tails said, "let's get going. That ship isn't going to fix itself." _That's a good idea though. Maybe a project for the future_.

"Forgetting something, fox-boy?" Rouge almost purred and Tails blanched as he realized what she was saying. "Something big, red, and irritable?"

The fox was about to reply when that something crashed through the brush behind him. "Yeah, it's right here, and it's even more irritable than normal since it didn't find the stripy something it was looking for. What do you want, bat?"

Rouge clicked her tongue. "My, what a way to treat the person you just asked to save your friends! Why I talk to you, echidna, I'll never know."

"Then don't!" Knuckles paused. "So, she actually came through? Fancy that."

"Of course she did, Mister Knuckles. Aren't you ashamed to talk to a lady like that?" Tails sat back against Sonic's shoulder with a contented smile on his face. _You were about to kick her in the head too_! But he wanted to see how Knuckles handled it. Sonic was already laughing next to him, and they hadn't even heard the rebuttal yet.

"I would be, except I was talking to Rouge and not to you. So it's not an issue."

"Honestly!" Rouge clicked her tongue again, and even Knuckles had to laugh. Tails was gasping for air within seconds. _I guess I really mean it this time. Things are back to normal, and it's been way too long coming_.

Geoffrey had dozens of trained soldiers with heavy weapons waiting for them, and Emeralds only knew which side he was actually playing for. But morale is to the physical as ten is to one, and right now each of them had that entire ship outnumbered.

* * *

"Hold up." Tails kept a tight grip on the loose grate as he prepared to swing down and check the hallway. "Let's see here…." It was always fun to dangle upside-down like this, and if secrecy wasn't so important he would have let out that whoop he was bottling up in his chest. The blood rushed to his head and set his brain alight as he swung around.

And then it all congealed as he realized exactly who was at one end of the corridor. Sonic grabbed for his legs but the stunned fox slid right out of the vent and fell to the floor, barely managing to tuck his head and roll before he crashed. "Hi Geoffrey," he squeaked from between his legs.

"Imagine that." The skunk didn't sound at all surprised for some reason. "What brings you back here so quickly?"

Tails swallowed nervously. "You're not going to believe this, but I wanted to help get the ship running again. I'm sorry for what my brothers did to it and I hear you've got a meeting to get to."

"Right." Geoffrey stalked over to him and looked up into the vent. "Rouge, I know you're up there. What are you up to, giving my message to everyone you see?" There was no answer. "Rouge?"

"Hey, I came back on my own." Not that Geoffrey would believe him, of course, but if the others could scurry away fast enough he didn't need to. "Knuckles said he heard you talking when he came to get my medicine, and I put the rest together."

Geoffrey both looked and sounded distracted. "I'm sure you did." He cocked his head while Tails scrambled to his feet. "So what're you after at the peace talks? I doubt you'd try to get the whole ship running again just for me."

Tails chuckled ruefully. "Yeah, that's true. I wanted to come down and watch. There are…there are some things I need to see. That I need to say. You know, about Cosmo?" He looked up at the towering skunk hopefully.

"And you probably want me to take you and all your friends down with me, and not glued into the sickbay this time. I can work with that, I think. You ready to actually tell us how the Master Emerald works?"

Tails shook his head vigorously, hoping he had just imagined the frenzied echidna growls above him. "No. Knuckles wouldn't let me even think about it. But I _can_ get the other generators back up, and I can fly the ship to wherever you need it." Of course, they'd done that themselves to get it up here, but he _wasn't_ about to hand over the Emerald.

"Not much of a deal, but again I think I can work with it." Geoffrey offered his hand and Tails took it. "It's all right up there, you can come down now!"

Tails grinned, but there was an apology in there too. "He's right. We help him out and he'll take us where we need to go, so get out here, okay?"

One by one the others dropped out of the vent, although Knuckles in particular took some effort. Come to think of it he'd probably bowed the entire shaft out as he went, and he and Sonic both had been grumbling incessantly. Another repair for the checklist once things settled down.

Cream yawned as she rolled out of the pile. "Do we have to start working right now?"

"Hey, hey, I don't think he'll mind too much if you find somewhere to curl up first. I've got energy to burn right now," _well, adrenaline at least_, "and I want to do this anyway, but I don't see the problem with it." He gave Geoffrey his best pleading look.

"You don't need to give me the big-blue-eyes treatment, boy. There's a cabin we can't get open down in the sleeping wing; pop that door and it's all yours."

A sealed cabin. _Cosmo's room_. He hadn't been in there since Shadow had chased them both all around the ship – she'd lived in sickbay after that, and she _hadn't_ lived for much longer. His chest suddenly felt tight, and for whatever reason he thought winding his tails around himself would make it better. Judging from the fear and grief that spread across everyone's faces he wasn't the only one who'd made the connection. "Um, Cream, are you okay going in there?"

"I'll take her," Knuckles offered. "If we've got a truce then I'd rather not be in the same room with him," he angled a shoulder at Geoffrey and pointedly refused to look in his direction, "any longer than I have to be." Tails shivered. That was definitely for the best. "Don't worry, Cream. I've thought about what happened there enough for all of us. It doesn't have to bother you tonight. Come on." If Knuckles hadn't been so gentle with him earlier in the day the fox would have been floored by the tenderness he showed just then. _Something's really changed for him too_.

"Works for me." Geoffrey edged around Tails to give the echidna a wide berth, and if he had trusted the skunk enough Tails would have laughed at how ridiculous it all must have looked. Sonic and Rouge were certainly snorting, after all. Normally he hid behind other people, but when someone twice his size hid behind _him_…. Okay, he couldn't help it. He burst out laughing too, and even Geoffrey's glare couldn't silence him.

Eventually he wore himself down. "Okay, where do you need me?" He snapped his gloves officiously and twirled Sonic's screwdriver between his fingers. Geoffrey raised a hand to stop him, though.

"Oh, before you all go, Princess Sally asked me to give you her regards. She's grateful that you got thirty of her subjects home safely, and looks forward to seeing all of you soon." The skunk winked.

It took Tails a minute to scrape his jaw off the deck. "You," he said severely, "are enjoying this way too much." Geoffrey just nodded, and the grin that split his face was wider than any Sonic had ever worn. Tails found himself smiling back.

Time to get to work.

* * *

As much as he enjoyed fixing his beloved machines, Tails was exhausted as he toppled into Cosmo's room. The hatch was just propped up in the doorway and its hinges rested against the far wall, which told Tails all he needed to know about how Knuckles had gotten it open. Cream was bundled in under the rich red quilt, a gift from her mother to Cosmo. Knuckles himself was meditating – or sleeping, if there was any difference – in a corner, and if Sonic and Rouge were back yet there was no sign of them. He hadn't made as much progress as he'd wanted to tonight, but some of the major cables were patched and the wind and solar generators were live again. Dry cool air flowed down from the vents, pushing out the humidity of Angel Island's jungle, and the fox just wanted to wrap himself in the breeze and go to sleep.

_First things first, though_. He'd been adamant they get the computers working again immediately, a wish the surveillance-happy Geoffrey had been perfectly willing to grant, and even though the skunk was almost certainly peeking in on them even now he had a different use for the technology. Cream twitched as the monitor lit up, but she just rolled over and went back to sleep. _Good_. _Knuckles might be scaring the nightmares away, but I _really_ don't want her to see this all over again_.

But as the footage unwound he realized that wasn't entirely true, and for the first time he genuinely thought he understood what Amy had said. Yes, he was clinging white-knuckles – well, under his gloves, at least – to the keyboard on more than one occasion, but really up until the end there hadn't been anything to regret. That was, of course, why it _hurt_ so much when things finally went wrong.

He kept his hand on the dial as he mulled over which footage and recordings to splice together into a presentation people might actually sit through. _Let's see…the early Planet Egg incidents are a must_. There were four or five of those, plus their own, and as Tails remembered how badly they'd duped Knuckles to recover one of them he was suddenly very glad the echidna wasn't watching either. _That really wasn't fair to him, but I wasn't going to argue with Sonic's plan_. _And I stand by what I said about him really wanting to believe the best in people, even when we _are_ talking about Eggman_. Then again, the audience didn't need to see how they'd gotten the Egg back, just that it existed in the first place.

They could skip most of the stuff in the middle, although bits of the weirdness that had been the Galactic Corridor could stay. After all, that was the closest thing they had to proof that they'd gone Somewhere Else – exactly where that was remained a mystery, but maybe once things settled down he could go out flying again and find out for sure. And then things came to the end. The Metarex armada, built to Eggman's scale…the little fox whimpered reflexively as _that_ memory came flooding back. _I almost got us all killed, first Sonic and then everyone else, and_…_you know, actually, things only went bad once I started to doubt I could handle it_. _Food for thought_.

But even then, things weren't all bad either. In fact, they were actually pretty funny whenever the Chaotix and their little homebrew rocket stumbled over them, much as the detectives had irritated him at the time. Their antics with Knuckles and Cosmo were kind of pathetic but also screamingly hilarious, and once again the little fox realized how much he had underestimated the people around him as he finally saw what they had been trying to do. "Man, I was dense back then."

"Yeah, big guy, you kind of were." Tails whirled around, almost knocking his chair over.

"Sonic! When did you get here?" He remembered to pitch his voice low just in time, but Cream still snorted and turned over again.

"Just now." Even after that rough-edged conversation from earlier it was still weird to hear Sonic so quiet. Or maybe because of that conversation; their relationship had changed – for the better, the fox was sure – or no, really it had just gotten back to where it was always meant to be. Either way, he was still picking through the pieces. "Seriously, bro, when _Vector the Crocodile_ figures out you're in love before you do, 'dense' is kind of the only word that works."

"I don't know that I was, at least until after that," Tails told him honestly. "I mean, I liked Cosmo and all, but things didn't really kick off until Shadow came, and after that it was really too late."

Sonic snorted magnificently. "You're probably the only one who thinks that, Tails. I mean, even Amy was squealing over you two in that hot spring after she got over it not being _me_."

The hedgehog's little blurry image was starting to dance with the Cosmo on the screen and Tails pointed it, not quite accusingly but not in any other way either. "How about that, though? I heard Espio talking about it too, after their whole little misadventure."

"Hey, what do you think? I was rooting for you all along."

_Yes, you were_. _And you always have been_. _I know that now_.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm guessing between five and seven chapters to go on this now, and I'm already writing the next one. With the emotional issues dealt with (more or less) it's time to settle the physical ones - little things like the war, Eggman's plan (whatever that is), Geoffrey's allegiance (whatever _that_ is), and the fact that at least two factions in the war have decent reason to hate Tails's guts right now. Of course, there's still room to shake things up in those five or six chapters, and I feel the urge to write quickly coming on again so they could quite possibly done inside the next two weeks.


	21. Treachery

Tails looked up from his instruments at the endless blue sky, shot through with wisps of cloud and the last tendrils of smoke left over from the siege. It was _good_ to be back on the bridge where he belonged. Sure, Geoffrey and four armed guards were looking over his shoulder, and it was true that his fingers still avoided the tactical panel, but he didn't really need to worry about his nonexistent guns when all he was doing was flying.

And fly he did. He had managed to talk the skunk into pulling his gunners off the outer decks, and took full advantage of that and the repaired gravity plates to put the Blue Typhoon through the sort of barnstorming even the Tornadoes might have had trouble with. He'd put in forty hours of the last two days on repair work, and spent all but one and a half of the rest going over old footage with his friends, so he had more than earned this. Not only that but he was still awake enough to actually enjoy it after drinking a month's worth of purified water, and he'd only realized how hungry he'd let himself get when Sonic had to stop him from accidentally eating the plate.

And if he managed to unnerve his "host" and the soldiers, then that would just be an added bonus. Besides, Geoffrey was driving him out of his mind with his little "But whose side am I really on?" game; the least the fox could do was return the favor.

"You realize we have a time limit, right, boy?" Tails didn't even look back. He knew Geoffrey had a point, but with Sonic glaring at _his_ back the skunk wasn't going to do anything too creative. Actually, that wasn't quite right. Creativity was his only option; that or just giving his brain a rest and enjoying the flight like everyone else.

"Hey, that's what we've got radios for," the fox told him breezily. "Besides, at least two of the groups at this meeting think you're on their side, so they'll want to wait for you before anything serious happens anyway."

The skunk mumbled something Tails was perfectly content with not hearing. As fun as this was, though, he'd pushed Geoffrey's patience far enough. It was time to settle in on a legitimate approach vector now, and to do that he'd need to get the ship upright again. Okay, so there was still time for a _little_ fun, he reflected with a wicked grin as he scythed through a two-hundred-plus degree roll instead of taking the quick way up. Judging by the clatter of boots behind him he was the only one whose center of gravity had adapted to the nice system he'd reverse-engineered from Eggman. Everyone else was still stumbling around as if gravity still applied to them, which the fox found vastly more amusing than it probably was. Well, all right, he was strapped in to a crash chair, but still! His stomach was as level as it was going to get after watching the roots-under-the-skin scene six times the night before while Rouge cut it just right for their presentation.

Just thinking back to that sent waves of nausea washing through him, and Tails bit down on them hard and looked determinedly out the window as they settled. Spagonia really was a beautiful part of the world when it wasn't buried under an inch-thick layer of ash, and even though the skyline was ragged and several of the mightiest buildings had been shredded down to their skeletons the hills and seas and forests around them were worthy of one of the Thorndykes' resorts. "This is your show, Geoffrey," _although I'm immensely enjoying my act in it_, "so go ahead and call in. If they're helpful we can set down inside of ten minutes and get whoever they want to see in just as quick."

"Look who's suddenly the confident one, eh?" Tails could practically hear the skunk's lip curl. "All right, I'll make the arrangements." He crossed to the communications panel, below Tails and to his left, and slid himself into the seat expertly. It took him somewhere under a second to spin to the frequency they needed, and the fox felt it would be better not to ask how he knew that number so readily. Of course, he might just be used to working with Spagonia too – _better I just stop chasing my tails before I give myself a headache_.

Tails couldn't really follow the conversation since Geoffrey'd wired himself a headset – something he'd never seen the need for on _his_ Blue Typhoon – and kept his voice low. Not like there ought to be any information exchanged that the fox wouldn't have to know eventually, but if keeping his secrets made the skunk feel better after his rough flight Tails wasn't going to complain about it.

Too much. "So, where're we headed?" the fox asked the second Geoffrey stopped talking.

"We've been asked to set down on the beach we're right on top of. It's not like there's an airstrip in the world built to handle this thing." Tails wasn't sure about that; from what little glimpses he had gotten of the Downunda fleet any one of their carriers could have fielded his, but he was frankly more concerned with the landing site itself.

"Really? You're not setting us up for something, are you, because that sounds like an awfully dangerous spot for us and for everyone around us. Like you just said the Typhoon isn't exactly small, and the water's awfully close."

This time he really did see Geoffrey's lip curl. "Not sure you're up to it anymore, boy?"

Tails shook himself vigorously. "No way! I just don't want to try and land somewhere the ship physically won't fit, especially not if some poor student or lifeguard's going to be underfoot."

"Well, I can only tell you what they told me, and if they're hosting Downunda's people they've probably got the campus locked down anyway. Sally tells me classes haven't exactly been normal since the war began anyway."

Tails felt his own lip rising into a snarl. He hadn't even considered that the war might interrupt people's education! "In that case I'll take us in. The sooner we get everyone back to class the happier we'll all be."

"You clearly haven't been a uni student yet," Geoffrey noted dryly.

Tails didn't pay any attention to him, instead focusing on his instruments and his view to guide the ship gently over the sand. The Typhoon shuddered to a halt nine hundred forty-eight feet above sea level according to his display. He reached for his attitude controls, ready to ease the ship down gently, when the lock-on alert started to blare. "Geoffrey, what's happening?"

The skunk glared up at him in confusion. "How should I know? We did exactly what they wanted."

"Shields!" _Oh, wait_. _That's my panel too, isn't it_? Except, it was the _tactical_ panel that held the toggle, which meant – _no_. _I'm not going near the gun_. _I'm not going near the gun_. _I'm not going_…. His ear jerked like a living thing.

Repeating his little mantra made all the difference, apparently, and he flipped the little beige panel up and pressed the white switch beside it. True to his word he managed not to even touch the late and unlamented Sonic Driver's joystick. Oddly enough the warning siren snapped off almost before the big globe of semitransparent white hexagons managed to form. _Wait_. _The same thing happened to our helicopter back in Soleanna, too_. _Do they seriously use the same wavelength everyone else I've met attaches to their missiles for _tracking tests _or something here_?

That actually seemed to be the case, considering the distinct lack of fiery death wasting itself against his shields, and he let them spin back down. Yes, there was the alarm all over again. He massaged the base of his ear. "Sorry, everyone, false alarm. Spagonia's just got some dumb air defense tech." Offensive as that was he meant it, too; there was a _reason_ everyone else he'd met used a nice standardized system. And with one crisis averted – and one mystery solved – it was time to ease his big old ship down and get this war over with.

* * *

"Does something seem off to you, Tails?" The fox had no idea why Geoffrey of all people was asking him that, but truth be told a few things did seem out of place. A few squat, tracked things with flat rectangular barrels that kept a watchful eye on the building instead of the new arrivals. The wide midday sun turned their flanks into gold and the fox's eyes skittered away from the glare.

"You're not thinking about those tanks there, are you?"

The skunk whistled. "Got it in one. Call me paranoid but I don't think they're just there for a photo shoot." Tails had to agree, especially since they'd passed at least six others on their way.

Rouge, however, didn't, although coming from her that didn't exactly confirm anything. "You're paranoid. These four were here the last time I was in town too." Just once Tails wanted to hear information like that from someone he could actually _trust_, but he supposed Knuckles hadn't exactly been watching this space for them.

Speaking of Knuckles..."Hey, Geoffrey. Why do you think they asked Knuckles to come along with us? Or Rouge, for that matter?"

Bizarrely enough it was Sonic who answered his question. "I think they're both there because they're supposed to be neutral. You know, so they can bash a few heads together if the bigwigs start arguing too loud."

"Works for me," Knuckles rumbled, getting a laugh from everyone present. The only one of his friends who wasn't there was Cream, and in just a moment that was even more true as a familiar pink hedgehog cannoned through one of the sets of double doors and flattened Sonic before he could react. "But I think I'll save it for later; right now I'm enjoying the show."

Tails was too. Even on their trip along the Spagonian boot before he and Sonic left for Angel Island Amy had been unusually subdued, probably a holdover from the Soleannan debacle. _And maybe the same fear I had_, _that Sonic was about to blame her for what happened to me_. Back in his workshop and on the Typhoon she just hadn't had the space to chase Sonic around properly. It did his heart good to see him blurring all around the University Mall with her only a few feet behind, and he laughed aloud at the bemused stares they drew from the tank crews.

Eventually Amy came to a halt next to Tails, panting heavily. "I've wanted to do that," she explained, "for so long." The fox nodded and offered her a tail to prop herself up on. She stroked the shaved fur and traced a finger along the worst of the cuts. "Oh, Tails, what happened to you _this_ time? You're not even wearing the new things Sonic helped me pick out for you."

The fox rubbed the back of his neck. _Trust Amy to notice that first_. "It's a long story that still doesn't quite make sense, so you'll have to wait until after the meeting to find out."

She glared at him. "Just make sure I _do_. You keep ending up like this and I'm getting sick of it." Tails surreptitiously looked for her hammer – he couldn't see it, but that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't there. Better to stay on her good side for now.

And what better way to do that than by asking the most awkward question possible? "So, what are you doing down here, especially right now? I mean, the rest of us are only here because we ran into Geoffrey." _She can get the details later_.

"Funny thing, that. You remember who we ran into on the train?" Tails nodded. "Well, she asked me to come with her – brought the Chaotix along too. They're in the lobby with Miss Rabbot." _Oh, right, long _"_O_." "She's been asking me about where we'd been all week. It's like something out of a storybook – my princess asking me about my one true love!" She pressed on her cheeks for dramatic effect.

Geoffrey coughed and stumbled behind them. "Ah, that's certainly charming but we're in a little bit of a hurry now, so if you wouldn't mind?"

"Oh. You're, ah, Geoffrey John, right? When did you get back?" Amy's deliberately vapid tone told Tails more about her opinion of the skunk than any words could have. He flashed a quick grin at her and she winked back, clearly not caring that Geoffrey could actually see her.

"That's _St_. John, thank you very much," he replied waspishly. Tails found it hard to believe something as simple as that could get a rise out of someone as consummately deceptive as Geoffrey, but then again the skunk might just be playing along. Or maybe his nerves were shot from Tails's exuberant flight over. That could be either a good thing or a bad one depending on who he was actually working for. "Shall we?"

At least he was gentlemanly about the whole thing. He held the massive oak door open as everyone else filed through, although Knuckles pointedly opened the other half of the doorway and walked in unassisted. Tails gave the skunk a sympathetic eye-roll, which Geoffrey returned with interest. _This is going to be an_…_enlightening little meeting_.

That said, there was another meeting waiting for them, and Tails tucked his ears against the wall of noise as an explosion of green and gold rushed to meet him. "Captain! It's good to see you again."

"You too, Vector," the fox replied somewhat dazedly as he tugged his hand free. "I never got the chance to say this, so thanks for covering for me back at the helicopter."

The crocodile looked almost embarrassed. "Of course. Did you think the Chief of the Chaotix Detective Agency would just leave a friend to fight alone at a time like that?"

Now the embarrassment was on Tails's end. "No, no, nothing like that. It was just – I had no idea how to stop it, and there you guys were doing everything you had to like there was a checklist for that kind of thing. Um, is there?" he added hopefully. That would solve a lot of his problems in the future.

"Unfortunately not. Perhaps if there were you wouldn't be as badly damaged." Yeesh, was _everyone_ going to notice that? Well, his injuries were hard to hide, but people didn't need to comment on them! "We are, however, used to observing the people, following newspapers for leads, that kind of thing. Vector or I could instruct you, if you'd like."

Tails's face cracked in a smile. "I'd love that, thanks! When can we –"

"Later." Geoffrey brushed past them. "It's a wonderful goal but reach it on your own time, all right? There's a council to attend and we've already kept them waiting far too long."

There wasn't much conversation after that, just the creak of old wooden stairs under the even older red rugs. After all, the skunk was right.

* * *

Tails had expected the conference room to be as dusty as the carpet outside, but it actually looked quite comfortable and well-used between its sun-dappled rugs and warm oval desk. In fact, he could have quite easily curled up with a book or a computer or just a cup of mint tea if not for all the fancy suits waiting inside. A very familiar wolf blocked the doorway. "I'd ask you to check your weapons, but you don't look like you can hide any right now. Gloves too tight, shoes too small, fur cut off…how'd you manage to get hurt even worse than you were in my city?" He waved Tails into the room and held up the next person in line, repeating the ritual.

Well, he had been right about the guests waiting on them, although now that he was here he started to regret clowning around in the Typhoon so much. "Sorry we're late," he offered. "I, uh, got distracted." _Please don't ask for any more details_. _I need you guys to take me seriously_.

The delegates didn't actually reply, so he took the chance to see who was actually there. It said something when the two humans weren't the most ostentatious people at the table. It was a smaller group than he'd expected, although he hadn't quite been sure _what_ he'd been expecting – just two people on each side, plus his little group. There were Professors Pickle and Regis on his right, wearing even more formal clothes than normal. Tails knew that from the two or three – dozen – times Chris and Amy had tried to dress him in the same style back on Earth. The humans stared down what if he was not very much mistaken was a raccoon and a _kangaroo_ – obviously Downunda's people, tucked into surprisingly dashing uniforms, all silvery silk and black and gold braid. But opposite him were the friendliest faces of all, wearing nothing particularly unusual for a refreshing change, Princess Sally and Bunnie Rabbot. _And I'll actually get her name right this time_!

Well, they presumably had decorum to maintain and Tails found himself stiffening to match, but Bunnie for one looked like she wanted to leap across the table and hug him. Come to think of that, she'd done exactly that when Sonic first introduced them. In fact, everyone but the kangaroo looked as concerned as their negotiating faces would let them be for a little moment – and that might just be the big man's unrecognizable body language – then Geoffrey loomed over his shoulder and the mood evaporated.

"So, which side are you going to say you're on, Colonel?" The raccoon's accent was solid enough to patch up the Typhoon with – much like that young woman he'd been working with over the last two days, come to think of it. Maybe there was some relation there.

"Simple enough, Marshal Firth." He walked straight past them, not even making eye contact, and came to a halt on Sally's left-hand side. "The same place I've always told you."

The kangaroo shook his head. "I see I've won our little bet, Justin." His voice was a lot clearer, although there was a husky edge to it that seemed a little off. Then the light dawned, and Tails quickly revised his pronoun choice. _Weird creatures_….

Sally was talking now, though. "It's good to have you back where you belong, Geoffrey." He bowed to kiss her hand almost immediately. "Not quite that good, though."

"You sure he's actually telling the truth, Princess?" Knuckles certainly knew how to make an entrance, and he sounded even more annoyed than usual. Probably at the implication that he might carry a weapon, although seeing Geoffrey treated _well_ by anyone had to drive him up the walls too. Tails winced. Imagine what those two factors would do to Sonic!

Not too much apparently. "Hey, Sal, how've you been?"

"There's a time and place for that, Sonic the Hedgehog. This isn't it." Tails breathed a mental sigh of relief as he realized no one had actually taken offense. His brother might be important, but he clearly wasn't the best choice for a formal gathering. "And to you, Guardian, my answer is 'maybe.' I don't know that Geoffrey ever tells the truth so much as the most accurate lie possible, which works for me."

"You wound me, my Princess," the skunk mumbled just loud enough for the whole table to hear him. "My imagination is much broader than that."

"Indeed it is." There was a resounding slap and a particularly huffy Rouge fluttered into the room. "Seriously, soldier, I know it looks like a good hiding spot but a girl has limits." She adjusted her chestplate meaningfully and Tails went bright red.

Professor Pickle looked like he was choking back laughter himself. "Now that we're all assembled, is there anyone here who's unfamiliar with the others present? I'd rather we all know who we're addressing."

"Well, I don't have a clue who most of you are, and I bet these two aren't much better off." Well, Sonic probably knew everything, of course, but Tails was very glad he hadn't had to admit his own ignorance.

"Fine, fine," the raccoon grumbled. "Air Marshal Justin Firth, Oriental Union. And currently out of a job courtesy of a certain two-tailed fox whose name will go unmentioned."

The kangaroo leaned forward. "Michelle Aki, Admiral of the Green and commander of our Away Fleet. Please forgive my colleague here, he's been pulling twenty-hour shifts getting his planes rewired." Tails wasn't certain whether to be proud or sympathetic, so he settled for looking as innocent as possible.

"I don't think we've ever had the honor, Master Hedgehog. I am Lord Professor – or Professor Lord, I really don't care for the titles myself, let alone the order – Regis of Soleanna. Yes, we're both humans, and no, we don't know how we or your Robotnik ended up here, so there's no sense in asking."

"And I'm Professor Pickle! Oh, I'm the director of this university, as it happens, so I'm your host right now. But please don't worry on my account." Tails slid his eyes sideways to Sonic, who was clearly struggling not to roll his. _Well, at least Professor Pickle's excited about something_.

"And that leaves us, I suppose. Princess Sally Acorn – probably Queen now, not that that there's a difference all things considered. I think all of you have met my dear friend Bunnie at least once, and then of course there's Geoffrey."

"Could you go around one more time? I'm not sure I quite got that." Knuckles patted Tails's shoulder as the kit whipped around to look at him, an exchange masked by the sound of every other head in the room slamming into the desk. The fox gave him a sheepish grin.

_And here I thought Sonic was going to be badly behaved_. _This is going to be a _long_ meeting_.

* * *

Tails found himself trying not to fall asleep once things went from being a learning experience to ear-bleeding tedium, which felt like it had taken an hour but the lying clock insisted had barely been fifteen minutes. Sonic and Knuckles hadn't even waited that long, although to be fair they had a much lower tolerance for such things. Sally was plainly nursing a headache, and the professors and Downunda officers had argued themselves in circles all the while. He wasn't even sure Rouge was still in the room, and Geoffrey – well, Geoffrey was still a cipher. He didn't look too bored but he hadn't been participating in the discussion either.

"Look," the fox finally said out of desperation, "we just keep chasing our tails. I'm _not_ on anyone's side and neither are these two," he twitched a tail at his dozing brothers. "Downunda can't fight Spagonia, Spagonia can't fight Downunda, and there's not really much of Acorn to fight _over_. So why can't we just all call it enough and go home?"

"Hear, hear," Sally said distractedly. Bunnie patted her shoulder and the princess straightened up a little. Now that he had a clear look at her, she seemed not just irritated but actually dizzy, like she hadn't had enough to drink or gotten enough sleep the night before. Then again, he had no right to be going as strong as he was after everything that he'd been through, so he could certainly relate.

And that was the only impact he made. Admiral Aki replied while Marshal Firth was still puffing himself up. "After all we've done and all we've lost, you expect us to settle for the status quo? You're dreaming, Prower. We aren't leaving without at least exclusive research rights, and preferably a nice trade agreement too." _What was it Doctor Constantine said_? _"Trying to claw their way into relevance_," _or something like that_? _I guess I can sympathize_. He remembered the barren, listless landscape of the Shamari town they'd visited. _I hope my greenhouse stood up long enough to do some good_.

"And why should you expect anything in the first place, especially our trade secrets?" Regis demanded. Something about this situation had him fired up. "You launched an unprovoked and unannounced attack on our allies in House Acorn, and then lost your entire air fleet to us of the Soleannan coast. Where in that did you earn any spoils?"

"_You_ had nothing to do with that, old man!" Definitely a sore spot for the air marshal, and Tails was seriously starting to regret opening his mouth. "That was all from your furry sidekick here, and when you tried to do it yourself we wrecked your entire submarine fleet." Tails felt Pietro stir behind him, which could be a good thing or a bad one. Undeniably bad, however, was that the conversation had looped around on itself – and this time the participants were shouting at each other.

And even worse, Sonic had woken up in time to catch Firth's last comment. "Hey, careful what you say about my brother there, pal." Oh, this was just getting better and better.

Sally slumped forward onto the desk. "You know," she moaned after a minute, "this would be so much easier if Spagonia had actually done something, or if you people hadn't done so much."

"Actually," Pickle looked sidelong at Pietro, "I think I might just have something to fix that. Condottiere?"

The soldier closed his eyes for a moment, during which time the Downunda delegates surreptitiously eased their chairs away from the table. Tails did the same. Even he could tell something was about to go wrong. "Yes, Sir." He pushed Tails aside and leveled his rifle across the table at the air marshal, who flipped his chair over backwards to get out of the way. "By the authority of the joint forces of Spagonia and Soleanna, I must place you in custody. You will be treated fairly and honorably as suits your stations." The words were flat and clipped, hardly the tone the fox expected from the bombastic captain he had known.

"Wait, what the hop? What are you two –"

Geoffrey cut Bunnie off with a single quiet word. "Treachery?"

Professor Pickle nodded and Tails felt something shrivel and die inside him. "Treachery," he confirmed just as softly.

"All right then." Geoffrey reached calmly into his jacket with both hands. They emerged holding two pre-spanned hand crossbows, and Pietro swung his rifle over with a snarl as the skunk twirled them into a ready position. "Treachery."

The fox tipped his own chair over to knock Knuckles safely aside as Geoffrey shot. The wolf may have been hesitant at first, but he brought his rifle sweeping up to knock the bolt aside.

And promptly threw it out the nearest window as the bolt chewed cleanly through it. "How'd you get those –" He launched a protective tackle of his own at the professors, sliding across the table and taking the skunk's second shot through his hat. Mercifully the silly cylinder put enough of a spin on the bolt that it passed harmlessly through the wall. Some kind of alarm went off as it broke the surface, a loud chattering bell that hurt Tails's ears no matter how well the fox covered them.

By the time the fox's mind broke the surface again the room was chaos. Sonic was braced for a jump, Knuckles looked ready to punch someone's skull in, the admiral was pulling some sort of handgun with a comically oversized magazine out of her pouch – _probably smuggled that in the same way Rouge did_ – and Bunnie's robotic arm was holding Geoffrey by the scruff of the neck while she placed them both between Sally and danger.

"Put that down!" he snapped at Admiral Aki, and the surprised kangaroo actually complied. "You want to make things worse?"

"No, fuzzbrain, we just figure Spagonia might as well have a _reason_ to arrest us!" Marshal Firth snarled. Pietro contorted awkwardly, trying to kick the air marshal's hand away from his companion's weapon, but he couldn't quite reach either.

A moment later he didn't have to, because Sonic was in action, humming across the table and splitting it cleanly in half, letting the gun fall somewhere into the mess of splinters. He hopped off the disintegrating furniture, used Bunnie's arm as a springboard, and landed right back where he had started. "Come on, bro, let's get out of here."

Tails shook his head. "Not happening, Sonic. We need to put things back together _now_ or this is never going to end." He jumped over what was left of the table for at the two Downunda representatives. "Come on, we need to get you to the Typhoon. Come on, Sonic, Knuckles, grab the others. We're getting them all out!"

Confused squawks were his only answer, and then Rouge settled to the floor from wherever she had vanished to. "Hey, people!" She waved for attention with one hand while she fished under her chestplate with the other, and Tails ducked his head away to blush.

It was only after his ears finally gave up that he realized that had been the point. His eyes uncrossed very slowly as the pain receded from his skull, and mercifully he could still make out at least muffled sounds. Like, for instance, noise from the direction that was supposed to correspond to Sally. How she'd sorted things out that close to a flashbang he had no idea, but then again that was why she was a princess and he was just a sidekick.

But as his hearing – and the pain – slowly returned, he realized she didn't have it all together after all. "Wha – what's happening? What's going on?"

A train of extremely unpleasant thoughts rattled through Tails's head. _Awake and functioning right after a stun grenade goes off in front of her, sounds more like she's waking up, dizzy all session, oh please let me be wrong_!

"Um, Princess Sally?" He had to shout to hear his own voice. At least the diplomats were still clutching their eyes, so he had some time. And he had to admit, seeing Geoffrey sprawled in the rubble, rubbing his face and apparently mewling, was supremely cathartic. "I realize this is kind of a weird question, but, um," he rubbed his neck awkwardly, "how did you sleep?"

Sally looked at him uncomprehendingly, then her eyes rolled up in her head and she flopped to the ground on top of Geoffrey. He didn't look at all unhappy with the situation, but Tails had much bigger worries. _Man, was that how _I _looked whenever that happened_? _I can ask Bunnie how long it's been going on when we're safe_. No one but Rouge was focused again yet, so Tails spun himself up and grabbed the unconscious squirrel. Geoffrey muttered a protest, but he still wasn't coordinated enough to do anything with it, and the fox flew over towards the door. He felt rather than heard Rouge coming up behind him, and when he turned to look at her he saw she had scooped up the irate Marshal Firth. Tails gave her a wild grin. Sonic, Knuckles, and Bunnie could get the others; they had to get out of there _now_ before Spagonia's military woke up.

To his surprise the admiral was back on her feet, and an immense hopping kick sent the doors crashing apart. Tails was out the door and away before the splinters had stopped bouncing.

* * *

"Stop blowing holes in my ship," the fox growled as he swung himself back into the command chair. Sally was still unconscious, and he'd let Bunnie web her into one of the crash seats. As for the diplomats, he'd asked Amy to start up the presentation, and given her free reign to use her hammer on anyone who tried to argue or walk out without a good reason. That meeting had frayed his more nerves than just the ones tied to his ears.

The rabbit pulled up next to him. "I reckon we didn't have much choice once the shooting started, sugar, but do you really want to choose Downunda over us?"

Tails didn't even need to think about that one. "Who's choosing? I'm trying to get things back to normal, that's all. That wasn't going to happen with everyone shooting at everyone else, so I'm just giving them all another chance."

Bunnie frowned. "That's sweet of you, but did you stop to think they might not see it that way? Besides, with Sally-girl still asleep up here they can't do anything."

Now it was Tails's turn to frown. Why wouldn't they all have appreciated a chance to simmer down and try again? He sighed. "I guess I'm starting to see that, yeah. Like, 'why should we even talk to you when you just tried to kidnap us,' right?"

"You're as sharp as ever."

Tails scuffed a shoe awkwardly. "No, I wouldn't even have thought of it without you pointing it out, so thanks, Miss Bunnie. Thing is, though, I'm really disappointed in the professors. They're supposed to be here to solve problems, not make more of them. I mean, that's their _job_, right?"

"Not quite." Oh boy, Geoffrey was here. "You've been too busy playing politics, boy. Spagonia's got its fighters in the air and coming after us." Trust the skunk to know that before his own sensors did. Then the ship shuddered from a distant impact – a little _too_ distant considering what had happened the last time.

"You didn't…" but Tails saw the look on Geoffrey's face and didn't need him to finish. The intercom tab nearly cracked as he punched it. "Everyone, listen up. If there is a single gunner outside the ship in five minutes I will turn off the antigrav and flip you upside down. I'm serious, people – get those things off my ship!"

"Don't countermand my orders, Tails." But the fox had had it up to _here_ with the skunk's mysterious behavior and bullying little aura of authority, and never mind that he'd actually been fairly gracious on their trip into town.

"We're in hot enough water already; do you really want to make it boil over faster? Now if you'll excuse me, Geoffrey, some of us actually have ships to fly!" Man, he hadn't even realized he was capable of barking like that.

_I'm not going near the gun_. _I'm not_! he reminded himself as he readied his shields. They wouldn't stop any opportunists from firing out, sadly, but if anyone was still on the deck when his time limit ran out it would at least stop their fall and bring them gently back to the ship. Plus, of course, the obvious benefits – and considering the spikes on the power readout he had cut that way too close. "Man, these guys are out of their minds. We've got their own leaders on board and we're already taking missile fire!"

"Tell that to them," Geoffrey spat. "They clearly aren't interested, and after what those two just tried to pull I'm not surprised."

Tails ignored the skunk again, focusing instead on his aft cameras. _Come on, get out of the way so I can fire the main thrusters_. He wasn't going to kick those in until he was sure no one was going to get caught in the exhaust. His warning clearly hadn't stuck for a few people, since he could see tracer storms tracking across the sky in both directions. Well, it was their vertigo.

It hadn't been five minutes, but the fox was no longer sure he had that long before his patience snapped. He took a firm grip of his manual controls and yanked the big ship through a series of maneuvers that should have been aerodynamically impossible. There were indeed a few unanchored soldiers dangling from his shields now, and their lives were about to get a lot more miserable, but for once in his life Tails didn't care. In fact, he had a growing suspicion that if the professors hadn't moved first Geoffrey's men would have done exactly the same thing, so right then anyone with a firearm was entitled to precisely zero sympathy. _Hey, the crazier I fly the less likely they are to hit anything_.

His nose was canted at an impossible angle to the hills beneath him, and he figured this was the best chance he was going to get. He reached for the intercom again, this time much less forcefully. "Main thrusters are going on. Antigrav is up, but hold on to something anyway." And with that and a five-second count, he flipped the switch.

The fighters, little jets with much less forceful engines than Downunda's interceptors, quickly fell away behind them. Hopefully they'd get the hint and keep their distance, but Tails wasn't too confident on that front. After a fifteen-minute burn he cut the thrusters again. Fuel was hard to come by when you couldn't just float up to the nearest star or gas planet and harvest some, and besides there was really no point to it. Just as he took his hand off the console the elevator dinged home and he turned around. "Doctor?"

"I heard about what happened to the Princess. May I see her, please?"

Tails shrugged. He wanted answers, but he wasn't going to go over anyone's head to get them. "Your call, Miss Bunnie."

"Well, that's sweet of you to ask, Captain. Go ahead!" She stepped back to give the doctor a clear look, but he barely needed it.

"You people are…acting, right? I was told there was an emergency, but you know what's going on."

"I think so, but I need to hear it from you." Tails was apparently the only one who was even that far along, considering the stunned looks on Bunnie's and Geoffrey's faces.

"Wait. You're being serious, aren't you? Except that makes no sense." The other fox looked so distraught that Tails had to offer him a supportive pat, even if he might very well be about to betray them all. "Because you of all people should know, since he said you were…he said…." He fell to his knees. "You're all supposed to know what was going on. Robotnik said it was a clinical _trial_!"

"Sugar-fox, if you honestly think Robotnik of all people's going to say something straight, I'm not really sure if anyone can help you."

Tails, for his part, was laughing. "You know, the funny thing is that if he'd bothered to ask I'd probably have said yes." His mind's ear could hear exactly the sales pitch Eggman must have given. "_Greatest advancement in medical history and you can be part of it – just go along with this trial to make sure no one can tell the difference and your name's going on the paper_!"

Somehow that made all the difference and Tails let his shoulders relax as his bad mood drained away. He'd never really been angry at the doctor, but it was good to get some real confirmation that he wasn't a bad person. "So, do you know where the real Princess Sally is?"

The doctor fidgeted with his gloves. "Ah, no. I'm sorry, I was just there to observe and make sure no one outside the experiment found out. If I can help you any other way, though –"

Tails waved his hand. "No need, just keep that robot tied down and explain things to it if it wakes up again – it'll probably be the real Sally." Bunnie still looked concussed, which the fox figured was only natural. _After all, you didn't believe it for a few hours and you _lived _it_.

Movement on his cameras caught his eye. "Wait, how'd they catch up with us so fast? We were on full boost for fifteen minutes!" He took grim hold of his controls again. "Find a seat, both of you. I'm going to have to get creative if we're going to lose them short of my workshop."

"Workshop?" Geoffrey muttered.

The fox shrugged as best he could. "I guess I figured it's time to come home."

* * *

Author's Note: And here we go! Hopefully I can focus well enough to get this thing done by next week - or, for that matter, to push ahead with the next chapter today - but my dying spacebar is really wrecking my rhythm. I'm still going for it, though!


	22. Clearing the Air

Tails was out of practice. He'd lost his talent for knowing where he and everything else was in his long months underground, and with fighters that should not be this fast buzzing around them he was already regretting it.

That wasn't to say he wasn't still competent, though. His earlier joyriding had proved that to him, and the enemy seldom hit the same spot on their shields twice. But a talented commander would have to realize the clumsiness in his maneuvers, the way he never let his nose dip below the horizon, sooner or later, and once that happened it would be all over.

_Except these aren't robots; they won't know instantly_, he tried to tell himself, but knowing it intellectually wasn't helping. He couldn't speed up without accidentally frying the pilots around him, couldn't slow down without handing over whatever advantage he still had, and couldn't even dodge too far for fear that something would come loose or break somewhere. He'd poured his all into the repairs and he was sure Geoffrey's people had done the same, but this ship had broken down at every other worst possible time he could think of, and he hadn't given it any reason to break that habit.

"Ah, come on, I didn't say it out loud," the fox complained to no one in particular as his shield indicator suddenly went dark. He stabbed the intercom again. "Anyone in Engineering, we just lost at least one of our generators. Keep an eye on the rest for me, okay? Also, everyone get ready, we just lost the shield." At least the way it was designed had brought the impetuous gunners safely back to emergency airlocks, which also meant they wouldn't be in any hurry to get back out on the deck. He took a hand off his controls for a moment and massaged the back of his neck. This was the second time today had switched from fun to stressful, and he had the distinct feeling that he was still in for some bumps before the end.

He put his hand back on the knobs only to feel the soothing pressure continue. He didn't risk looking back, but he knew from the touch that Bunnie was there with him, and he wormed into it. He wasn't about to let her down now!

The Blue Typhoon was hardly the most aerodynamic vehicle in existence; in fact there wasn't a proper airfoil anywhere on it despite the various wings and outriggers. Most of those were just there because they'd looked cool, Tails admitted with a faint smile, but they served another purpose the Metarex had illustrated for him on a few occasions. Namely, producing a thoroughly _wrong_ radar pattern.

The design was vindicated once again as missile after missile streaked from his rearview camera to the front viewscreen, denied the solid radar return of his shield. But on their own the fancy little stubs wouldn't last him for much longer, and the fox shook his head clear and went back to evading. If the ship had no chance of building lift unpowered, it had maneuvering jets almost everywhere to keep his maneuvers as stable as those of a helicopter…give or take the ability to shift wildly around whatever axis he chose. There was a lot less effort to dodging now that the shield was down, no need to pull a faltering shield segment away from incoming fire, and all he had to do was not get hit. He switched off the rearview camera and turned his gaze fully to the window. The world around him blurred into a spiral as he threw the ship into twists and rolls even the impossibly nimble Spagonian fighters couldn't keep on top of. No need to bank, not in this flying brick – that was what he had maneuvering thrusters for, after all.

It was still a little disconcerting to see the whole length of the gun and flight decks spinning ahead of him, but he'd gotten back into the habit during his stunt flight that morning, and either way it was clearly messing with the pursuit flight even more than it was his passengers. His adrenaline-pumped grin had no space to widen at the thought. Or at the short-lived spectacle of three fighters shooting one another's machine gun fire out of the air at an almost perfect hundred-and-twenty-degree intersection just in front of him.

"These guys are way too determined for their own good." Oh? When had Sonic gotten to the bridge? Probably at about the same time as Constantine had gone back down. "I mean, I get it that we kind of kidnapped the most important people on the continent, but seriously! It's _us_, what are they so worried about?"

Tails didn't have an answer for him, but apparently Geoffrey did. "It's not that they're worried we'll hurt them; they just want that pleasure themselves. Not just Downunda's people, either." The spymaster sounded like he wanted to spit. "I can't blame them; I just hope they save me a slice. That kind of betrayal gives us all a bad name." The fox settled into an almost instinctive evasive pattern. _This_ he wanted to hear.

Sonic scoffed. "This from Mister Hey-Guess-What-Team-I'm-On-Today?"

"There's a difference!" Geoffrey seemed genuinely indignant. "You do not do what the professors down there just did. Stunts like that don't bring happy endings without too much outside help to rely on."

Sonic's voice went quiet, contemplative. "Were we enough outside help this time, you think?"

"Depends on whether or not your fox crashes us into a hill somewhere." Tails winced, but for Geoffrey's sake rather than his own. Had he taken lessons on the best ways to irritate Sonic or something?

To the fox's immense surprise, Sonic didn't use the skunk for deck paint. "Hey, Bunnie? Remind me I owe this guy once we're somewhere I won't get in my little bro's way."

"Sure thing, sugar-hog." He hadn't imagined the motherly Bunnie could sound so cold. He knew why that crossed a line with Sonic, of course, but now he wondered if there was something he should know about her past too.

And while he was wondering the last few hills and ridges before the ocean had dashed to meet him. Unfortunately, so had a brace of missiles from what had to be the only plane that still had ammunition, and the ship pitched violently as they punched into his thruster housing. It was one of the auxiliary driver thrusters that were burning right now, and as the airstream lost its shape the entire vessel started to wobble. _Come on, almost there_! He still knew where to look for the shredded garage door the Downunda commandoes had left in their wake an endless two and a half weeks before, and as he put the ship up on its side to give it a vaguely stable flight profile as he dove for the door.

Even with all his advantages, though, Tails had to give in to his vision eventually. He couldn't guide the Blue Typhoon through that tiny little space at this bizarre angle, although he was sure it would fit, so he popped it back upright just in time to take a final volley of gunfire against one of the surviving thrusters. The spaceworthy construction held, though, and Tails instinctively looked over his shoulder as if he could see the disappointed pilot breaking away. _Yes_!

Now all they had to do was decelerate, which was easier done than said with this many thrusters pointing this many directions. The hardest part was curbing their downwards momentum before they hit the tarmac, which he wasn't quite able to achieve. It had nothing on the spine-in-mouth jolts that had accompanied their last crash, but that squeal of shredding metal was a uniquely unpleasant sound, especially to Tails's already battered ears.

Eventually, though, they came to a complete stop and the ship even rocked itself upright. "You didn't care _which_ hillside I crashed you into, did you, Geoffrey?" he asked with a curious mix of pride and shame.

And then the adrenaline let up and the tired little fox sagged forward into his crash webbing.

* * *

Tails had barely closed his eyes before Sonic shook him back awake. "Great flying, little guy. Let's get everyone inside, all right?"

The fox nodded, but then caught himself and shook his head instead. "No way we're all fitting back inside my place. Especially since the crops are going to stink now." He wrinkled his nose in anticipation. He'd let exactly one hydroponic crop go bad before, his very first aboard the Blue Typhoon, and the stench associated with it had been his strongest reminder never to let it happen again. "No, we're just going to stay on board while we figure out what to do next, okay? If nothing else, we've still got that stock of premade food down in storage."

Sonic reached around the fox and tapped his stomach, getting a giggle for his trouble. "Guess I can see where your mind is tonight, big guy."

Tails frowned. "You're probably right, but what do you mean 'tonight?' It's still afternoon, right?"

Sonic shrugged. "Well, it's getting kind of late. Not dark yet, but by the time we're ready to scramble an Eggman it probably will be."

Tails chuckled at the age-old pun even as his stomach growled at the thought of scrambled eggs. "In that case there's no point to waiting around, right?" He sighed and stretched as he popped himself out of his harness.

"That's what I like to see, Tails," Bunnie called. "You take charge now." Either Geoffrey had left the bridge or was trying to be as quiet as possible until Sonic forgot what he had said, because that would have been the perfect spot for one of his usual comments. As Tails and his brother called the elevator – _someone_ had definitely left while the fox was distracted, not that that was any surprise – Bunnie called out to them. "Oh, sugar-hog, don't forget you've got a date with that garden snake."

Tails fell apart laughing when the elevator reflected his face. He just couldn't believe it – Geoffrey St. John, a _garden snake_? The mental image that took shape ought to have been terrifying, but it had to be the most nonthreatening thing Tails had ever seen. "Thanks for that, Bunnie, I think I needed it."

The rabbit winked at him. "No problem, sugar." She turned back to the unconscious Sally as the elevator slid away.

Tails turned to Sonic. "So, you know what's happened to Princess Sally, then?"

The hedgehog's good mood melted away. "Yeah. You looked the same way back when you were having your problems." Tails winced. "Pretty much."

"I think I get why you were so worried lately. And I wasn't much better; until I realized it was just Eggman with his big fat fingers on my off switch I thought I was being weak and letting you down."

Sonic shook his head. "Come on, not this again!"

"Hey, big bro, I'm just telling you what happened. I don't really feel like talking about it again either. Um…you know if there are any chili-dog kits in food storage?"

"Nice segue." The hedgehog chuckled. "Well, I for one feel like going to find out. You game?"

Tails nodded enthusiastically as the elevator slid into place and the surviving doors slid open. "Hey, you're, um, Admiral Aki, right?" Exactly what the kangaroo was doing here he had no idea.

"You promise me that footage you shot wasn't staged?" The fox wished he had a better idea of her body language, because he knew something was off but had no idea what it might be. So he just nodded. "Well then, it seems I had the right idea when I told my forces not to get on your wrong sides. I couldn't sit all the way through that little show of yours – had to duck out when Rouge's images started up." Tails reached out and patted her elbow with a tail, then jerked it back in case he had crossed some kind of line. He knew exactly what part of the show she was talking about. "Naval service hasn't been all that risky but I've still seen injuries and deaths when our machines break, and they have absolutely nothing on those _roots_." She shuddered. "So if you two were the ones who stopped the trees, then you have my undying thanks."

Tails scuffed his shoe on the deck. "Not me, not really. But a friend of mine –" Sonic stepped in front of him, arm guarding Tails's chest.

"Yeah, we were all part of that. It's still a bit of a sore spot –" Tails ducked his arm.

"Don't listen to my brother when he's being silly. If it was such a sore spot I wouldn't have put that together for you. Cosmo's really the one who let us stop it all, but she had to – to die to make it happen. I've been looking for ways I could have changed that ever since, but that doesn't mean I can't talk about it now."

The kangaroo looked him over approvingly. "Give it another thirty years so people will actually listen to you when you say you've got the experience, and you can slot right into my job."

Now Tails looked away. "No thanks, I don't want to make that decision ever again."

"We never do, do we? Well, Justin makes your brother here look like a glacier most of the time, but you always lose one or two planes even on a perfect run so I can see where he gets it from. Idiot man wants to let all the Colonel's people know what Spagonia tried to pull earlier. I almost agreed with him, more's the pity, and then I thought it over."

Tails hadn't even considered that, and now that _he_ was thinking about it he was immensely grateful the admiral had overruled it. There would have been a mutiny at best, and even if Sonic could mop up half the ship while Knuckles took the rest it would have ruined the possibility of peace permanently. "So, um, are you ready to admit you were wrong when you went to war over all of that?"

"Miles, my boy, do you honestly think any of us bought that reason for a minute?" Professor Pickle shambled out of the viewing room, looking much older than he had that morning. "I see why you were so cagey about those trees, by the way. I'd never have believed you, and I'd have been disgusted if I did. But back to your question, it was never really about the forests dying or reappearing. Am I right, my dear Admiral?"

"Careful who you 'my dear,' Pickle. But I won't deny it. We wanted what Acorn and Spagonia had, and especially after today we're not going home without it."

Tails just sighed. "Do I need to lock Amy in with you while you try again with this whole 'negotiating' thing?"

They both looked at him evenly. "That might not be a bad idea, Miles. We need to get this finished, one way or another, and I do share the guilt for our…poor decision this morning."

"Then get on with it already," Sonic told them. "But if you guys need something to eat, we're on our way downship now anyway so go ahead and ask. You probably won't want to fight on a full stomach, right?"

Tails giggled. "Coming from you, Sonic? Hard to believe."

"You think this," Sonic rubbed his stomach, "is ever full? Come on, bro, you know me better than that by now."

"Yeah, I guess I do. So, we'll be seeing you later, then? And we'll make sure Princess Sally is back this time tomorrow too." And with that the fox and the hedgehog sidestepped their guests and took off at dash down the hallways of the Blue Typhoon, footsteps echoing all through the ship.

* * *

Tails really had no idea what had gotten into Sonic when he said people didn't fight on full stomachs. He'd gone through three crates worth of precooked food and the water to match, and he was more eager to get back in the air than he'd felt in months. That said, there were a few things that they needed to go over first. "You still remember how to ride my wing on the X-Tornado, right?"

Sonic gave him a mock glare. "Come on, little bro. You don't honestly think this hedgehog would forget something as simple as that, do you?"

"Just checking." Tails's mouth was actually feeling somewhat sore. Between all the smiling he'd done today and the food he'd just shoveled through it he'd worked those muscles harder in the last thirty hours than he had in the last thirty _days_, and it felt like it. "Seriously, though, it's been a long time since you've ridden my wing in atmosphere. I don't want you burning up or getting your arm ripped off or –"

"Woah there little guy, I thought I was the one supposed to do all the worrying."

"'That's what friends do,' right?" the fox quoted with relish.

Sonic threw up his hands in surrender and Tails kept right on laughing through his next question. "So, who do you think we take with us on our next little trip?"

"Um. I figured you'd have thought of that by now. I mean, I sure haven't!"

More laughter, and a few awkward stares from passing Downunda soldiers. "Oh, okay then." The fox twirled his cheek fur idly as he thought. "We need one seat still open, so that means me, you on the wing, Knuckles, and Geoffrey."

Sonic very deliberately swerved just so he could plant his face in the nearest bulkhead. "Okay, Knux I can understand, but Geoffrey?"

"Geoffrey," Tails repeated. "You still owe him for that ownership comment, and Knuckles never takes his eyes off the man, so he'll be on the closest thing he has to best behavior. The way I see it, that's better than leaving him alone with Amy and Cream and all the big names in the viewing room."

Sonic mulled that over for a moment before flashing a big thumbs-up. "Fine by me, bro. I'll go grab the skunk and you can find Knuckles, how about that?"

Tails had seen the echidna just moments before, and considering Sonic's speed that was eminently fair. "Just see if someone can get some pictures of his expression when he finds out who he's sharing a cabin with. I don't want to miss that."

He broke off from his brother, trying to find his way back to where he had seen Knuckles. The echidna was probably hopping from project to project down here in Engineering, and under normal circumstances the fox would have lent a hand, but right now they had a princess to save and a war to end. _Sounds_…_actually, that sounds about normal for us after all_.

As expected, Knuckles was buried up to his studded shoes in a storage closet, muttering dire imprecations against all well-concealed technical manuals. Patting him on the shoulder was a risky business at the best of times, so Tails delicately extended a tailtip for the task. "Hey, Knuckles, are you up for raiding Eggman's base with us again?"

The echidna rapped his muzzle sharply on the doorframe as he tried to react. "What? Bah, Tails, I'm busy. We can't get all these people home soon enough for me." Tails shared the sentiment privately, but right now he really kind of needed Knuckles with him.

"Please, Eggman's got Princess Sally – I don't know when he got her, but he's done the same thing he did to me. With the robots and all, I mean. Nobody's going to leave if she's not there to sign off on whatever they agree on." _If anything_….

Knuckles sighed. "I hear you, Tails, but someone needs to keep these guys in line. Geoffrey was down here rabble-rousing a few minutes ago; that raccoon lady let him down as gently as she could but I need to stay here just in case. I think she's interested in you, by the way." Tails's blush was luminescent even through his fur as he scrambled to change the subject.

"Wait, Geoffrey's down here somewhere? When did that happen?"

Knuckles shrugged. "You know any other skunks with that uniform it could have been?"

Tails didn't really have anything to say to that. "Well, thanks for listening, Knuckles. I know we'll find someone else – I'll tell you what happens, though!"

The echidna waved him away. "I think he went back up-ship. No guarantees, but after that stunt he pulled this morning I think I could smell the pond scum if he was still in Engineering."

That was the second hilarious mental image of Geoffrey in under an hour. "Pond scum. I need to remember that one. Is that an echidna folk saying or something?"

"Who knows?" With that Knuckles buried himself in the storage closet once again, and Tails took off in the direction his friend had indicated.

He hadn't gotten very far before he heard raised voices, both of them quite distinctive. For all his subtlety Geoffrey didn't quite seem to understand that noise echoed in confined spaces like the honeycomb at this end of the ship, and the raccoon engineer plainly didn't care.

"Miss Firth, I realize your father is aboard this ship but that does not excuse insubordination. You are under my command, and I instructed you to place this _ship_ under my command if needed."

"And I told you to fall out of a tree, Sir! I'm clear enough on what constitutes an unlawful order and that one reads right out of the book. I'd have reported you if you hadn't told me what went on upstairs, and just because those idiots jumped the gun doesn't mean we're allowed to do the same."

"And since when have you of all people been interested in the letter of the law?" The fox's fur stood on end as he imagined the skunk's scowl and just how much he wanted to wipe it off right then. He felt uncomfortably like he had when he thrashed that bear on the helicopter, like he was all coiled up and ready to strike time and again beyond what was actually required. The difference was that in this case, Geoffrey probably deserved it. The poor soldier hadn't; he'd just been handy when Tails saw someone he couldn't protect.

_So maybe that's it_. Well, he could certainly protect someone here, so the little fox puffed himself up and marched around the corner towards the voices. "So, ah, Geoffrey," _confidence, darn it_, "what's this about you planning to take over my ship?"

"You heard that."

The fox nodded curtly. "Let's be honest here – can you do that, be honest? I know your people could take this ship away in an instant if they wanted to. I also know that between Rouge, Amy, Cream, and my brothers, they'd only hold it for maybe ten minutes, and Bunnie and I could probably boot you off the bridge. So just…_let it lie_, okay? Even you don't have to backstab everyone at once; at least take it in turns." Geoffrey opened his mouth angrily and Tails stuffed one of his namesakes down it, savoring both the raccoon's burble of laughter and Geoffrey's magnificent bug-eyed expression. "I'm not finished yet. I'm taking you off my ship – you're coming with Sonic and me to rescue Princess Sally from Eggman. Remember him? And if I hear any of your soldiers talking about mutiny, I'll know where it came from, all right?" Tails was panting, hadn't realized he ever had that in him, but man did that feel _good_. And that sense of rage was gone, safely vented on the most deserving target. _I can work with this, I think_.

The skunk's eyes lit up when he mentioned the princess, though. "All right, consider me chastened. I'll play along. Where do I meet you?"

Tails jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, not that that meant much in here. "Out in the hangar. We're taking the X-Tornado."

"By your leave, then, Captain." Every word oozed sardonicism, and as Geoffrey stalked out neither of them let the other see their back. Finally he was out and around the corner, and the raccoon turned to Tails with a sigh of relief. Tails echoed it, nearly toppling over as the adrenaline and the fury melted away.

"Thought he'd never leave. He can be scary when he wants to be, can't he?"

Tails rubbed his neck ruefully. "Yeah. I can't believe I just did that." Then inspiration struck. "Hey, just try picturing him as a garden snake or pond moss the next time he throws his weight around – that's what Bunnie and Knuckles called him, anyway."

She chuckled. "I think that might just do it. Thanks for the rescue, Captain." And with that she turned back to her fuel line, and Tails followed Geoffrey out with a spring in his step.

* * *

"Hey, Tails!" Sonic skidded to a halt next to the X-Tornado, Bunnie clanking along behind him. "I couldn't find Geoffrey, but I figured Bunnie would do if he wasn't –" That was, of course, the skunk's cue to uncoil from the shadows of the jet's far wing. "Oh, hey there." Not even a blink. Well, not on Sonic's part, Geoffrey was blinking quite enthusiastically as his dramatic effect fell completely flat. "Ready to go?"

"Just about," Tails confirmed. "Right. I don't want you behind anyone, Geoffrey, so you get the front seat of the upper cockpit. Bunnie, you go behind him, I'm flying, and Sonic gets the wing. Questions?"

"Sorry, but yeah," Bunnie said. "What about those gentlemen out there?" Tails followed her mechanical hand out towards the darkening sky, and although he had to squint to make it out he could see the unmistakable profiles of the Spagonian jets. There was some massive hulking thing out beyond them, probably the midair tanker that had let them catch up.

The fox sighed heavily. "Same plan, five-minute difference. Sonic, you run back into the ship and tell anyone who looks important they might need to get the ship moving again – just getting the shields up again should do it – and if I hear anything about anti-air fire I will personally give high-diving lessons to whoever's responsible while they're holding their gun. I'll get this thing on the launch rails and wait for you to get back, okay?" Sonic didn't even reply, just blurred into action and was gone.

It didn't take much work to check out the plane, and even less to line it up properly. _Glad to see I've still got this touch, at least_. The cockpit could use a wash and he was worried about sneezing on the layer of dust, but he was too eager to be back in the air to worry about things like that just now. Plus, he wanted to ride the adrenaline high from confronting Geoffrey for as long as he possibly could.

_All right, people_. The little fox's hands wrapped around the old familiar joysticks. _Let's see what you've got_.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm a little worried my characters might suddenly feel OOC in these last few chapters, now that Tails is more confident and in a different situation. If there are any complaints there let me know and I'll address them. As for the little "violent rage" subplot, I'll probably edit some discussion of that into one of the talky Angel Island chapters shortly - frankly, I had forgotten it was even there until I hit this chapter and realized "hey, Tails is fighting again." As always, thanks for reading and I appreciate any feedback.


	23. Questions Unanswered

_It's funny how fast your skills come back to you, isn't it_? Tails reflected as his big silver jet blasted through the Spagonian formation. _I mean, look at Sonic out there; you'd never know he hasn't flown like that in almost a year_. His brother was actually pulling stunts, riding the wing like it was a skateboard, and for all that Tails knew Sonic was the most vulnerable person there if one of those planes got a lock on them he alsoknew there was no chance his brother would actually let something as mundane as a missile or bullet _hit_ him. The fox gave him a huge wave, and the hedgehog responded with a thumbs-up even as his legs danced beneath him.

"Tell your crazy brother to settle down before we crash into something!" Well, Sonic wasn't exactly helping the Tornado's aerodynamic profile, but this wasn't a glider either. In fact, the X-Tornado was another product of his "because it looks cool" phase and could only keep itself aloft with some serious thrust, so throwing an extra set of spikes on the swept wings didn't mean all that much in the long run. Plus, anything that ticked Geoffrey off was a major plus in his book.

"Ignore him, Sonic, you're fine," the fox replied. Geoffrey moaned behind him, and he could have sworn he heard Bunnie titter. This was _fun_. And then he realized what he was thinking, what he was doing. _I'm knocking someone down, ripping open all their insecurities, just because it makes me feel good_. _What _happened_ to me_? _I've even got a group of _"_cool friends_" _who're laughing at him right along with me_. "Um, actually, maybe you should tone it down a bit. I'm going to fire off one of our flares in a minute, try to bait a few of these fighters to come after us instead, and I don't want you getting hit once they come after us." _I'll tell him the real reason later_.

That was a legitimate excuse, though, and he punched the little black-and-yellow countermeasure button. Normally the flares he stored were for emergency signals or to confuse missiles that were coming up after him, and he might very well use the other two for those reasons later, but right now he needed all the attention he could grab. With the hangar door in tatters and the Blue Typhoon's shields and engines down his friends would be sitting targets, so any time he could buy them to make repairs would be worth it.

The big purplish-white blob of phosphorus spewed out behind him, spreading and dispersing like a firework, and slowly more and more enemy fighters broke out of their holding patterns to pursue. Exactly what they were doing circling like that the fox didn't know, but it was probably better that they didn't get to continue.

Machinegun and cannon fire bracketed the Tornado, but even as he banked away from the worst of it Tails realized it was only going to hit him by accident. _Just like Downunda's people_. _They probably figure that if they hurt me or Sonic they'd better get the other one at the same time_, _because we're going to wreck them otherwise_. Not a bad doctrine from where he was standing.

And then they were clear, the Spagonians clearly content to scare them off. Or perhaps they were worried about hitting their own people; a green-white helicopter lifted out of the forest below him as he shot past. _Wonder what they were doing on the ground this far away_. In fact, now that they realized he was just going past they seemed perfectly happy to just settle back down, and Tails felt his chest tighten. Something definitely wasn't right here.

"Tails, behind us!" The fox peeked over his shoulder at Sonic's warning and saw four contrails rising against the twilight behind them. Well, that answered one question, although it raised a few dozen more. Like what missile launchers would even be meant to do this far out, or how the gunners expected to hit anything with such plainly _bad_ target tracking – the missiles were barely keeping up with him, and they were barely managing to follow his course let alone actually hit him.

Then he felt the pieces fall into place. _They weren't chasing the Tornado_. _Those things are meant to shoot down the Typhoon_. _No, not shoot down, either_, _they're trying too hard not to hurt us_. _Just disable_. "See if I give you people ideas again," he muttered.

"How's that?" Was that _panic_ in Geoffrey's voice? No, there was no way. _If it is, I really must have pushed him too far_.

"Remember those bombs I set off under your fleet?"

"I let you set those off, boy!"

Tails sighed dramatically and cut the channel for a moment. "If that makes you happy." He flipped the switch back on. "Okay, well, I think they've strapped some of those bombs you let me set off under your fleet," somehow he kept a straight face all through the delivery. _No, I need to stop_. _He may be a pain but that doesn't mean I get to be_. "They've strapped them to those missiles. They'd probably crash the Blue Typhoon; why they used four of them on this one plane is beyond me."

"Probably just wanted to be sure," Bunnie replied bitterly. _Bunnie_…. Tails shook his head ferociously. No. He wasn't letting those things go off next to her of all people!

He toyed with his afterburner toggle instead. "I don't have an Emerald powering this thing, so if I have to boost to get away we're going to run out of energy on the way back." The solar panels set into the wings weren't going to do much good at night, after all, and he only had so much fuel for his backup generator. "Those things are taking their time, but somehow I doubt they're going to lose us anytime soon either."

"Just say the word," Sonic said. "I'll slam those things into the ground. Done it before, remember?"

Tails smiled fondly. He was flying Sonic out on the wing of the X-Tornado to fight Doctor Robotnik. If he forgot about all the politics and betrayal, it was just like old times. "Thanks, but I bet they're just proximity-fused anyway. They'll go off once something big enough gets close to them – not that you're too big," he reassured his brother hurriedly, "just that by the time we're close enough for you to jump we're probably getting fried anyway." Wait. Fried. The fox slapped his free hand into his forehead. "Hold on, this is going to be a bit risky but I think I've got the right idea now."

With that he throttled back his engines, letting the missiles gain on him ever so slightly. Of course they'd be going after the flying brick; even with the x-wings around the nose to give him some extra lift this thing wasn't going to glide so much as _drop_ if its thrust cut out. And even more importantly, he had no idea what would happen to Bunnie's parts and intended to never find out.

His instruments in this thing could definitely have used some extra maintenance, but there'd been no real way to test his rangefinders back in the hangar. Instead he eyeballed it, aware that he was going to be woefully imprecise but still at least intellectually aware of his talent for naked-eye flying. _Right about_…_now_! His second flare popped out from beneath the jet, ballooning behind him and – he hoped – blinding or even consuming the missiles. As the afterimages danced away he saw the four warheads still pursuing him, but until he did more than course correction that wasn't going to mean much. He slammed the throttle open again and banked hard, and to his dismay the missiles gradually turned to match him again.

"Didn't work," he said around a rising lump in his throat. _Just like that missile Eggman sent at me after we got back from Earth_. _They just won't give up, not until I'm dead_. _No, got to remember my priorities_._ Not until we're _all_ dead_.

Geoffrey spoke up with surprising diffidence. "Can you shoot them down, you think? It might be our last option." Man, he'd really left a mark on the poor man.

"I hadn't thought of that, but it won't work. I mean, even if I could make myself do it – no guarantees there, either – I didn't keep this thing loaded, and I didn't have an ammo supply for it." Not quite true; he'd dropped his ammo reserves in the ocean first thing after getting home, but Geoffrey didn't need to know that. All he had was the chaff from his point defense guns, which hardly would have fit the X-Tornado's cluster of six machineguns anyway.

The skunk sounded legitimately apologetic. "Thought as much. Not sure what else we've got, then."

The fox looked around himself and grinned. Not much of a power reserve, true, but he might have enough to bait those missiles around the familiar bulk looming in the distance. "Actually, we've got the perfect obstacle. Um, no one tell Knuckles, okay?"

Bunnie snorted. "You flying around that big rock under his island? He might be proud to hear it finally did something useful."

Tails cocked an ear. That was definitely a point.

The big craggy root of Angel Island rushed towards them, and whatever else they might have been those missiles were certainly in no hurry to catch up with them. In fact, if he wanted to slam them into something he'd have to start dropping back to let them get close again. If he wasn't entirely mistaken – and since he was flying by starlight now he very well might have been – they'd actually opened the range a little in the last hour. _Those things are probably meant to wear out the Blue Typhoon; they must have really been desperate to use them on us_.

And there it was, and the fox took the nasty upwards spiral with the ease of long practice. _Come on, hold together, a stall's the last thing we need_! He evened out right as his weight started to reverse itself, snapping back into a straight flight past the upside-down mountain. "Sorry for the rough treatment, guys. Anyone see what…happened." The missiles had, despite seeming clumsy at first, actually matched his maneuver.

"How much fuel did they pour into those things?" Geoffrey demanded. Tails had no idea; he was too busy trembling as memories of Eggman's drill-shaped missile flooded back. _No_. _That's not this, these aren't it_. _No, I'm not going back there_. But the fear wouldn't leave, and he screwed his eyes shut and twisted his head away from the view, never mind that he needed to fly.

"We're not getting away, are we, sugar?" Right. Bunnie especially needed him to be thinking right now, not just hiding scared in the cockpit like he had in that first storm with Sonic years ago. He wasn't a kit anymore, and his friends were there too!

"I – I won't give up just yet!" But what did they still have? It had taken Super Sonic to destroy Eggman's missile – but then again, these weren't that impossible weapon. "Sonic, you think you can get the missiles while I loop around the peak again?"

His brother seemed unperturbed as always, and Tails looked out at his silhouette against the stars. The familiar shape was there, scaring off the nightmares, and he felt the fear retreat. It still gnawed at him but it couldn't drag him down again. "Sure thing, bro. Just be ready to pick me up, all right? Night swimming's the worst." The fox could practically feel Sonic's dramatic shudder.

"Not a problem, okay, just go get them!"

The entire plane tilted into another turn as Sonic kicked off from the wing, and Tails leveled out into a downwards spiral back around the mountaintop. The distant sounds of thudding metal and popping detonators filtered through Tails's canopy, and he flattened back out and cut his speed as far as he dared. _I should have waited till we were over the desert; I can't see a thing out there_. Where was Sonic? Had he let his brother fall after all? He'd never find him in the nighttime sea this far out from shore –

A heavy clunk that nearly flipped the plane over cut his thoughts off masterfully. "Sonic!"

The hedgehog chuckled. "You didn't think I'd leave you this time, did you, bro?"

The fox shook his head, but something about the way his brother had said it drew the tears dangerously close. "I never did. Just wasn't sure I could catch you, that's all."

"Eh, fair enough."

Naturally, Geoffrey interrupted. "This is certainly touching, but you two remember why we're out here, right?"

"I hadn't forgotten, Geoffrey," Tails said patiently, all the emotion knocked out of him by the skunk's characteristic bluntness. "Just needed to catch my breath for a moment."

And with that he cut the channel. He needed to get his focus back; either that or just plug in the autopilot and try to catch a quick nap. Part of him wanted to fly but his body was sending urgent "Rest" signals, and considering where he'd be going next….

Well, with a thought like that he knew quite clearly what his dream was going to be, so he scrubbed at his eyes and pulled himself forward in the seat. There'd be time to rest on the way home.

* * *

The silver sands of Shamar were once again surprisingly welcoming, even to tired and bloodshot eyes. Unfortunately, those were well behind them now, and the big plane settled into a holding pattern over the huge hole in that terrifying little canyon. "Really got to wonder what this place looks like in the daylight; bet it's nowhere near as bad." He flipped the intercom back on. "Okay, guys, this is the place. From what I know of echidna traps, it's probably best if we stay inside until we're into Eggman's base proper."

"How?" Geoffrey seemed honestly curious, but Tails had put too much work into the feature to spoil it so easily. Instead, he just flipped up a little plastic shield and pressed the hornet-striped button beneath it.

Sonic jumped smoothly over the nearest jet as it flipped up and rotated in along the airframe. The wings swept down next, and even the two cockpits hissed apart as the X-Tornado reconfigured itself. It hovered down gently to the shattered great hall Geoffrey had saved him from. "Probably didn't need this anyway, not at this distance, but I kind of like to show it off. Bunnie, Geoffrey, this is the Cyclone walker. It's probably my best tool for fighting Eggman head-on – even beat him myself once, although I still don't quite believe it."

"Stars," the rabbit breathed. "You built this thing all by yourself, sugar-fox?"

Tails nodded, but Sonic spoke first. "That's my little bro for you. He gets sick of having to wait at the plane all the time, so next thing you know the plane is coming with us."

"Well, not this time. I don't think most of those halls are big enough for it. Um, I don't really know the layout in here, but I think Sonic and I should go after Eggman while you two look for the princess. Eggman'll have her in a little cylindrical tank about Sonic's height plus an extra two feet – ah, just make that about your size, actually, Geoffrey. She'll be really sick for a while after waking up, so give her time."

Geoffrey sounded almost like he was pouting. "How come you know all this and I don't?"

"I lived it." Tails wasn't interested in going into extra detail. "Oh, and, um, Geoffrey. Could you wait up a minute once the other two go on in? There's something I've got to say."

"You said enough in Engineering. Like I told you, I'll play along but don't expect anything once Princess Sally is safe."

"No, I mean it. I – look, I'll say it here. I've been acting like a jerk to you lately. I'm not going to walk back what I said belowdecks, since you kind of deserved it, but I could have been gentler with it. Besides, that's not really the worst of it." Okay, the tail-whipping thing had been a bit overboard, but at least he'd been justified that time. "No, I mean with all the fancy flying, all the times I strung you along since you gave me the ship back. That was just mean of me, and I'm really sorry for it."

"Well." Sonic shook himself and hopped off the walker's flank. "That kind of killed the mood. You guys ready to go now?"

"I am," Tails said as he popped the canopies and scrambled out. "Do you two need a lift?" Bunnie was already climbing down, dropping from the airframe to pulverize the masonry below. Geoffrey, though, seemed pensive as he slid down the leg on his tail. Hopefully he'd accept Tails's apology in time; the fox had never realized how easy it was to act like that.

Sonic pulled him aside as Bunnie and Geoffrey started to argue over where to start looking. "Hey, what was that back there? I mean, it was nice of you and all, but really? For him?"

"Not for him." Tails turned his eyes to Sonic's, pleading. "I was acting like the bullies back in Emerald Hill used to. I mean, I kept hurting him – and I knew that's what I was doing – and there wasn't ever any reason for it."

Sonic laughed. For once, Tails wasn't tempted to join in. "Come on, do you need a better reason than Geoffrey St. John? The man seriously needs the air let out of his ego."

Tails wondered if his brother quite understood what was wrong with _him_ of all people saying that. "That's exactly the same thing they used to say about me. I mean, I kind of agree, but I don't want to turn into them just because it's so fun to yank his chain. Sure, he's a jerk, but he deserves better than that. I mean, now that I know I kind of feel sorry for the guys who used to pick on me, since it's just so _easy_."

"Well, if that's what you think." Sonic was staring back at him now and his hand was warm against Tails's shoulder. "I mean, I'm not inside your head, bro, so I can't tell you what to think. To me, you're overthinking this, but I guess it means a lot to you. I think the difference is that the skunk can stand up for himself if he has to. You were a four-year-old kid without _anyone_ looking after you, he's spying for two different countries. So if you go overboard, he can tell you."

Now Tails looked away, and the tears that had threatened earlier were back on the surface now. "You didn't see him, Sonic. I don't think he's ever felt this powerless before. He's relying on us now for everything he wants to do, even for his own life. And there I was taking advantage of him."

His brother patted his arm gently. "If you say so, Tails. But if he's depending on us, I guess that makes it time to go track down Eggman and finish this whole thing off? Okay?"

"Okay." Tails couldn't quite grin, not yet, but the tears had been stemmed. _Man, Sonic, how do you always know what to say_?

* * *

Words could not express how creepy it was to walk through these dilapidated hallways without seeing a single robot or laser plate or _anything_. There was always some kind of obstacle in Eggman's bases, but even what had to be an hour into it the worst it got was the lack of functioning ceiling lights. Sonic said what they were both thinking. "Wonder what Geoffrey's up to." Or maybe not, but now that he mentioned it the fox looked nervously over his shoulder. Nothing, of course, but even if he had apologized he started to wonder if he'd pushed the skunk past his breaking point. "Ah, let's be honest, he's probably looking for Sal still. You think Eggman packed up and moved before we got here?"

Tails shivered as he considered the implications. "I hope not. I didn't think he could have; it hasn't been that long and this whole prisoner thing has to be a pretty unique setup. But even if he has, we might find some kind of clue to where he's –" The fox whipped one tail over his own eyes and the other across Sonic's face as a set of massive floodlights flared to life with a resounding clunk.

"Or we could find a giant robot," Sonic said as soon as he dared peek out through what was left of Tails's fur. "That works too."

An all-too-familiar cackle echoed through the huge domed chamber, broadcast and amplified from dozens of speakers all across the machine. "Good to see you. I was starting to wonder when you'd make it."

"Just couldn't wait to have your newest plot foiled, huh?" Now that the light was walled off by the towering torso-shaped robot Sonic was already spinning into gear. "Can't say I blame you, that last one was nasty even by your standards." While Sonic got ready Tails took stock of the room. It was a massive dome, with nothing but flat metal and open air between them and the robot. The machine itself was a drab green that was still a relief next to the bilious hue of the rest of the base plating, and it looked for all the world like Eggman had just sawed one of his old humanoid walkers in half and rooted it to the floor.

Those thoughts had flashed through by the time Eggman started speaking again. "You flatter me, hedgehog. But surely you and your little friend there know by now that I've barely scratched the surface."

Sonic revved up into a ball. "Let's see what kind of scratch we're talking about after _this_!" He lifted off the ground under his own force as he hurtled towards the machine.

And bounced back with a high ringing ping without even denting it. "Figured the easy way wouldn't work right off the bat. So I guess I just run circles around you until you slip up and give away your secrets, right?"

"Oh, that's one possibility," Eggman agreed. "The other is that you give in to the sleep gas I've got filling the chamber even now."

"Wait, what?" Tails strained his ears but couldn't hear any hiss that might indicate a gas attack. Of course, his hearing had taken a lot of abuse over the previous few days, so that wasn't really a guarantee one way or the other. But then again, the room was wide open. There was no way the gas would make any kind of difference if it diffused through the entire facility. "You're bluffing."

The doctor cleared his throat. "No, no I'm not. Try it now." The fox rolled forward into the room as a heavy door ground down from the ceiling, and now he could definitely hear the hiss of escaping glass. "Better?"

"Yeah, loads," Sonic ground out. "Come on, bro, let's see if we can get a better angle on this thing!" Tails sprang forward, scooping his brother up and lifting off.

"If that gas is too high up this'll only mess us up faster," he warned.

Sonic just laughed. "No problem. I think I already know what to do to this thing." He started to rock back and forth in Tails's hands, tucking himself back into a ball, and the fox knew from long practice exactly when to let go. The blue buzzsaw spiraled around the robot's "neck" – it didn't have a head, just a little round dome, and Sonic was clearly trying to get at whatever was inside it. "Yo, Egghead, I'm waiting!"

The speaker system rattled with laughter. "Come on, hedgehog. I stopped falling for that one years ago. My robots, maybe, but not me in person. Seriously, don't you give me any credit?"

Instead of swatting the hedgehog – and most likely himself in the process – Eggman threw a massive punch at Tails. It wasn't meant to connect, not really, not against someone so agile who was still flying freely, but as he ducked the punch he tasted something bittersweet in the air, something that took the edge out of his adrenaline flow. _Definitely coming from below then_. "Sonic, watch out for the gas! It's almost up to me now."

"Don't worry, Tails. I've got this." The fox didn't see _how_, but he wasn't close enough to really tell what Sonic was up to either. So he was just going to trust his brother, and he hovered over closer in case he was needed.

That gave him the view he needed, and as he ducked another massive swing he finally understood what Sonic was up to. _Come on, Eggman, that's just lazy_. The robot's entire top dome was to be rising up and exposing a giant threaded screw as Sonic ran laps around it, and yet the doctor was making no effort to stop it. _What's he up to_?

The dome popped off and rolled aside with a noise like an accident in the workshop. And underneath, instead of Eggman or even some nice vulnerable power core, was a very confused-looking half-metal rabbit. "Hey, what was that thing, Robotnik? First I'm in a nice elevator – going down, mind you – and next thing I know it's like I'm riding a rocket. I've done that enough for one day, thanks – no offense, sugar-fox." She coughed a few times as she finished. The gas was clearly up to her level, at least until Sonic grabbed her and jumped clear. Tails caught them both, but he wasn't used to the sheer weight of Bunnie's prosthetic limbs. He had no idea how she'd gotten there either, but they could figure that out later. Right now most of his energy was aimed at keeping them all high and safe.

"You wound me, hedgehog. That's three times since you arrived that you've acted like you expect me to be a complete idiot. Three! To a man of my intelligence!" To be fair, Tails thought he heard some distinctly childish sobbing beneath that claim, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Bunnie, you think you can punch through that door? We need to let some of this gas out, but that'll mean going into it. Are you okay with that?"

She chuckled warmly. "As long as you're there to pull me out, Tails. Drop me whenever you're ready."

"Um, give her a second while I get over there, Sonic." Eggman launched a few more punches, but Tails had pulled far enough away from the machine by now that it was a completely empty gesture. "Okay?"

He sprang upwards as the weight disappeared, and an exuberant series of crashes and tears echoed up around them. The doctor howled, but his own "invincible" design left him with no way to prevent it, and Bunnie soon waved up to him. Sonic took off on his own, racing around the inside edge of the dome to kill time, and the fox dropped to rescue his friend.

He frowned as he got there, though. The door wasn't open yet, although it was badly battered, and then as he saw the dents and bends in Bunnie's arm he gasped aloud. "Are you okay?"

"Glad you asked, sugar," she groaned. Sonic launched another useless attack against the robot, and Tails felt his own senses dulling already. _No_! _I'm not going back in that tank_! "That door just got the better of me, that's all."

And that, of course, was when what was left of the door washed over them. The two ended up lying in a tangle on the floor, both having tried to shield the other, and Tails levered a heavy chunk of blast door off of himself with a well-placed and remarkably cramped tail as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

Two figures stood in the doorway, one tall and proud and the other looming behind it…and Tails's cheeks burned as he realized the leader was completely undressed. _Sally and Geoffrey_. _But where'd they get the bombs_? A splinter of half-melted beige plastic gave him his answer and he started to laugh, higher-pitched than normal as his lungs rejected the rapidly dissipating gas.

"You left me a message, Eggman?" Sally asked mischievously as she brandished a final television set of the same color as the deformed plastic. The scientist had made a hobby of rigging his video recordings to blow, and it seemed like he'd pulled that stunt on Sally one time too many.

"If you wanted room service, Your Majesty, you could have stayed in your suite and just asked." Eggman's pleasant tone fooled precisely no one. All the same, though, Tails heard the background hiss fade away. So much for the stalemate, then.

Sally crossed her arms over her chest, mercifully cutting off Tails's view. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine with coming down here in person." Then Geoffrey stepped halfway in front of her, exactly the way Sonic always did for Tails.

"Face it, doctor, your plan is a bust. As usual, I might add."

"Oh, you're here?" Eggman didn't even bother to hide his disdain, and Tails saw Geoffrey bristle. "I thought I asked you to lead her away safely while I captured these three again."

The skunk burst out coughing. "I'm sorry, that has to be your clumsiest trick yet. Me, take orders from you? Dueling states, maybe, but not you." But Tails knew better. He couldn't say anything though, not yet, not without proof. Besides, the skunk had wanted him to know for some reason. Maybe there was still a plan ticking away to get them all out of there.

"I don't know, you seemed awfully eager to get back to Tails's plane before anyone else could," Sally mused.

Without missing a beat, Geoffrey had an answer for her. "I wanted to get _you_ safely to the Tornado. You didn't wake up fully until we were almost there, after all, and, well…" he trailed off with a wave at her entire body. "And another thing," he said to the big machine as Sonic dropped off the ceiling and landed next to him. "These people were probably looking over their shoulders for me the whole fight. Are you trying to say _I'm_ the laughingstock when you couldn't even beat two of them while they were distracted?"

Eggman laughed, long and loud. After a brief coughing fit he had recovered enough to speak again. "Oh, but my dear Geoffrey, you already are."

Something clicked on the far end of the speaker, and then the only sound in the room was Eggman's wild laughter as Geoffrey St. John crumpled bonelessly to the floor.


	24. Breakaway

Tails wasn't entirely certain how long he stood there. Maybe it was the leftover traces from whatever drug Eggman had pumped into the air, but he simply couldn't wrap his head around what he'd just seen. Sonic was the first one to speak, not quite surprisingly. "Wait. Wait, wait wait wait, _what_?" He wasn't adding much to the conversation, but then again he had taken the words right out of the fox's mouth.

"Oh, this is just wonderful. I haven't seen you this surprised since Tails told you he wasn't your brother anymore, Sonic." Tails saw his brother flinch and stepped forward, arm and tails protecting Sonic the way Sonic had always done for him.

"That wasn't me and you know it, big bro. And as for you, Robotnik," he said severely, "don't you _dare_ bring it up again!" Not that there was really anything he could do about it, but sometimes a stern warning was all it took to quiet the doctor down.

Not this time, though. "I seem to have hit a sore spot. Why, hedgehog, I didn't realize you were that afraid." Tails felt his lips part in a snarl, but there was nothing to take his anger out on. No robots, no turrets, nothing. Was this going to be the new Eggman, because if so he wanted the old one back, please.

He stooped to grab a piece of debris and hurled it bodily at the big machine. It didn't help, of course, but at least it made him feel a little better. "You'd better have a good explanation for this, Doctor." Sally's tone could have flayed the paint from the walls if Eggman had bothered to use any, and Tails resolved never to get her that mad at _him_.

"Oh, naturally, Princess." Through the speakers, the fox couldn't tell if the doctor was being sarcastic or genuinely helpful – after all, he did enjoy talking about his projects.

"Stow it."

Eggman cleared his throat, a phlegmy rip that set the entire robot rattling. "First of all, the thing lying on the floor is the one responsible for bringing us all together here – you and my good friend Tails especially."

The fox glowered at the robot, hoping the doctor could see him. "Thin ice, Eggman."

"And that's something you of all people had better worry about." Sonic laughed at his own joke, but without Tails to set it up the humor it would have still made a wonderful threat.

"I'll take that under consideration, hedgehog. Now, where was I?"

Sally huffed. "Trying to convince me that Geoffrey St. John organized my kidnapping, Tails's, and probably his own as well. This isn't all that good a story by your standards, Doctor."

"Deny it all you want, my dear, but you'll understand in the end. Yes, your beloved spymaster was working for me too – just as I'm certain he's been helping everyone he's found. To me, he said he'd be willing to help me take over if he could remain my second-in-command." Tails frowned and the robot held up a massive palm to stop him from speaking. "Of course he was going to betray me; I'd do the same for anyone."

"So I don't have to tell you that he was acting. That's his _job_, in case you don't quite get the concept." Tails rubbed his temples. _Someone please hurry up and tell me whose side he's actually on_!

"Oh, I understand perfectly, Princess. But there's another side to being someone for everyone, and that's that no matter what happens you'll still be important somehow."

The fox only realized he'd made fists when he ground some of the fur off of his temples. "Hey, Geoffrey's had a bad day." _My fault, not yours, but still_. "So lay off him! At least bring him back and let him speak for himself, okay?"

"Well said, sugar." Bunnie clattered over next to him. "I'd say that's only fair."

Sally looked thoughtful, but nodded after a moment. "Yes. Yes, I think I'd like that." Only Sonic still looked rebellious, but Tails doubted his brother was going to protest.

"Well, how can I turn down such a simple request?" Eggman chuckled, and Tails suddenly wondered if he'd made a mistake somehow. Geoffrey staggered to his feet, and Bunnie reached down to steady him. He gave her a grateful nod and straightened out his clothing.

"I take it from the way I randomly fell asleep there that our partnership is over, Robotnik?" Sally quirked an eyebrow at him and he nodded, much to Tails's bemusement. "Good." He was still smoothing his outfit when his hand slipped into his breast pocket, and after a brief moment – and some bizarre feedback squeals from the speakers – he sagged to the floor again.

"What?" Tails flicked his ears to and fro, hunting for any sound that might give him an answer. "Eggman, what's happening?"

"I have no idea!" The doctor's voice was already much higher naturally than anyone would expect from someone his size, but right now he sounded like Tails and the fox shuddered. Anything that could confuse Eggman was bound to be bad news. Just look at the Metarex. "Believe me, I didn't shut him back off. I was looking forward to what he had to say, honest!"

"Amazingly enough, Doctor, I believe you. You want to know why?" Sally grinned wickedly. "Because I helped him wire one of your little recorder-bombs to the base of his tank."

And once again Tails was left scraping his jaw off the floor, and judging from the metallic thud that rang out over the speakers he wasn't the only one. _Who thinks like that_! He felt like shrieking, and judging from the tightness in his lungs his body agreed with him.

Fortunately for everyone's ears, Sonic's echoing groan beat him to it. "Woah, seriously, Sal? You and the skunk set this up that far in advance?"

"No." She ran a hand through her neck fur. "Just made it up as we went along, as soon as I woke up enough to understand what he was saying." A long, low growl from the speakers distracted the fox, and he and the others looked around nervously as they realized what they were hearing.

"So, the first round goes to you, Your Majesty. But I'm not done with_ any_ of you yet." All the glee was gone from Eggman's voice, replaced by an eerily level malice the fox had only heard once or twice in his life. "I'll let you try to leave, of course, but I've been preparing for your visit so long it would be a shame to let it all go to waste. And since we've got Sonic and Tails with us, I think I'll make things interesting. In ten minutes every exit will seal, and I don't care how determined you are, I'll grind you down and make you beg eventually. So start running, little friends, and may the best human win."

Sonic was already in motion again, blurring back and forth as he thought. "Sal, we're going back for him, right?"

She chewed her lip. "If he has to that man can hide anywhere. He just usually doesn't. So there's no particular rush; we need to focus on ourselves first."

"But Sally, where is he?" Now that everything was clear – at least as clear as it was ever going to get – the thought of leaving Geoffrey behind with Eggman was not a pleasant one. "Can he make it in time?"

"He wasn't too far from where I found that elevator, Tails," Bunnie told them. "Anything more specific, Sally-girl?"

"Yes. He – well, that 'he' down there," she pointed distastefully at the Geoffrey-robot, "took me up a couple of elevators to get the bombs, then back down one of them. Bah, I can lead you there if you need it but I don't know that we'll have enough time!"

"The Tornado's pretty far off," Tails agreed. "Plus we don't know what else Eggman's got lined up for us."

"Time." Sally pursed her lips. And then smiled. "Come close, little guy. I don't want him listening in." Tails ducked in as the princess knelt down to his level and listened to the plan.

* * *

The fox's tails whirred above him as he hurtled down the corridor back towards the Tornado, Sally's last television set cradled to his chest. He checked back over his shoulder. _Okay, they've broken off_. _ Things are going all right for a_ – A flash of movement in the corner of his eye yanked his attention away from his friends. Blue, spiky movement all rolled up into a blinding little ball. _Joy_.

It wasn't Sonic, not with the plan they'd set up – and for all that his brother was an independent sort the fox had the distinct impression he'd always listen to Sally. That meant the doctor had prepared robot doubles for everyone, and considering Eggman's predilection for mass production there definitely wasn't going to be just one of each either. After all, there'd been at least three of him the last time they'd been down there, and he was sure there were other backups. The him that had met Sonic on the beach was almost definitely a third copy, although then again all the injuries had stayed consistent, so – _focus_!

Either the doubles' AI had gotten better or Eggman had just put more effort into his Sonic model's battle skills, since it was caroming off the walls just as exuberantly as the real thing. Tails tucked his chin protectively over the bomb he was carrying. _I can't let it slow me down_. Even riding his adrenaline, though, the fox could barely make out where the robot was at any given time. _That's got to be hard on the batteries _– _though I guess flying didn't do mine any favors either_.

That wasn't going to help him in the short term, though, especially not when he could see at least two more bouncing blue balls further up the hall and closing fast. "Going to be close," he muttered to himself as he threw himself forward at full speed. _Dang, mistimed it_. But maybe these bots would be just as stupid as his had been, and he flipped himself end-over-end to plant a massive double-kick squarely in the robot's side. He winced as his shoes sank in to the soft synthetic flesh, but it wasn't really all that different from just sparring with the real Sonic, was it? He wasn't really trying to hurt anyone, just kind of push past them. _And if I tell myself that enough times I might actually start to believe it_.

The first fake Sonic spun out on the ground and every nerve in Tails's body screamed for him to go help his friend back up. But he knew what was going on and he wasn't about to let everyone else down, so the little fox just gritted his teeth, flipped back right-side-up, and flew on. Only two more fakers to go. _Heh, I wonder if this is the closest I'll ever come to beating Shadow in a fair fight_. _I mean, it's a fake Sonic, right_?

Once again he forced himself to focus, and once again he spun in midair to kick the next robot out of his way. Just on the off chance it had seen his first win and adapted he changed things up a little, letting himself spin under his tails instead of flipping over and kicking the machine like a soccer ball. It cannoned into the wall and dug through, bringing back even more memories of his last encounter with Shadow – Knuckles had held him back exactly the same way. The machine crumpled out of its hole, exposing sandstone and little bits of echidna masonry beyond. Interesting to know, but not all that relevant just now, and the fox again forced himself to leave Sonic behind and plow on ahead. _I'm going to be apologizing to him for this all the way home, I just know it_.

Just one more Sonic to go, and now that he'd been hurtling along at full speed instead of the cautious tiptoe they'd scared themselves into on the way in he could see the Tornado's landing site not far beyond. _So he wanted to split us up, make us leave each other behind_. _Like that was ever going to happen_! The robot seemed to be giving ground, running in simulated panic at what had happened to its fellows. "Finally someone gets the right idea," he yelled after it. Okay, he probably couldn't back that up on his own, but it was a sentiment he'd held in through way too many misadventures with Sonic. And the robot certainly seemed to be listening.

Then a blue-hot bandsaw drove itself into his spine and the little fox screamed. It was an incoherent, utterly animal sound fueled by the sort of sudden pain he'd never been awake for in his life, and he felt things he didn't know could move shifting and tearing and bursting as the pressure ground into him. The bomb clattered to the floor, but the fox was beyond caring. His ribs flexed to impossible angles as his entire body wrapped around the attack, and something cracked. Several somethings cracked.

Then it finally let off and he slammed into the wall and slid down into a moaning, bleeding heap. _Looking at the wrong threat_…_like always_, he thought weakly – but the fact he was coherent enough to even think that much gave him a little glimmer of hope, and the pain eventually overwhelmed itself and turned into functioning numbness. He clawed himself back upright, ignoring the wet sting on his back, and even as his vision blurred he dove for the bomb. He had to get that the rest of the way to the door. Nothing else mattered!

The robots clearly hadn't expected him to still be moving, since he not only grabbed the bomb but managed to take a full five steps beyond it by the time they even started to react. He couldn't fly anymore; even if he trusted his spine to hold together it would make him too big a target. But he still had his legs, and even if he needed his tails to keep up with Sonic there was no way he was getting away traditionally here. No, this was all about evasion, and hard-won lessons from his childhood came flooding back. He definitely knew how to make himself a small target when he had to.

But undulating the way he used to, rocking back and springing off to throw off their aim, was getting him just as much pain as flying probably would have. It was working, though, and he bit his lip against the screams as he plunged ever onwards. _Come on, I can do this_. _If Sonic can hold off Shadow I can deal with these fakes_! The screams turned into a primal roar as Tails thundered along the hallway. He couldn't stop, not now, and though tears were shimmering across his already blurry eyes his legs still pounded the metal floor as he dodged his way along.

It was almost like flying, he decided, even if he was grounded and far from the protection of one of his planes. So not much like flying, but the principles were the same – you can't control them, so just make it so they can't tell where you're going. Maybe that was why he'd picked it up so quickly. It didn't matter, but for once his wandering thoughts were a nice distraction from the rest of the world. If one of those robots wanted to finish the job he couldn't really stop it, so why let the pain and the fear get in?

But there was a new pain, or at least a new sensation on top of the pain, and since he didn't think he was delirious yet he tentatively tied it down as cold night air. _I made it, Sonic_! Only now did he turn the screen around to see just how much time he had. _Wait, those last two digits are hundredths of a second _– _oh boy_. A grinding sound not all that different from the one the robot had made on him set the doorframe ahead of him ringing and he threw himself under it as the slab of metal scythed down. There was no time for finesse; he just dropped the little television squarely under the hurtling door and rolled along the broken tiles. He let go of the screams he'd been bottling up at last as the bomb let go and sent smoke, sound, and shrapnel right at him.

For an instant there was nothing, and Tails started to cry – there'd been tears before, but not anything on this scale. Mostly it was the pain, of course, but the fear that he'd just condemned his friends to robotic slavery and himself to a long death of exposure grew and grew within him. Then metal screamed against metal as the door began to fall inwards, its base ballooned out enough to overbalance it. Just for an instant the fox saw three very surprised blue hedgehogs, one of them brown with his blood, and then the toppling blast shield wiped them all away.

The fox flopped onto his stomach and then catapulted himself back upright with his tails as something that should not have squished. _All of that and I can't even lie down_? _No fair_. But through the thickening haze he saw a set of figures dashing for the wide-open entrance. He supposed he ought to wait and see, to make absolutely sure these were the real people and not another set of robots, but he could do just fine without seeing Sally and especially Geoffrey undressed in front of him.

His mouth cracked in a pain-maddened grin and he toppled forward again, but this time a strong arm was there to brace him. "Aw, sugar-fox, what'd you get yourself into? Hold on, you hear?"

He let himself sag against Bunnie and rest there. He didn't know if they'd be able to patch him up enough to make a difference with the little medkit he kept aboard; didn't know if any of them had more urgent injuries that needed treatment first. What he did know was that they would do their best, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Tails was incredibly glad he couldn't see his own back. Bunnie had been the only one with the stamina to prop him up in his seat for the flight home, and even so there was a sick wetness where his injury still touched the felt. At least the pain had still deadened itself, and even though he'd been just this side of sleep all the way home Bunnie's metal touch had kept him conscious. "Sonic, never let me ask you to spindash someone ever again." He'd said that a few dozen times already and would probably say it at least a few more before they set down, but his brother – and all the others – had to be grateful they were almost back to the workshop.

Now that the sun was up energy reserves weren't too much of a problem; they were burning power much slower with the solar panels working, and without a two-hundred-mile detour to dodge any ridiculously persistent missiles this time he'd probably be able to set down in or right outside his workshop. Right outside might be better considering how crowded the hangar had been getting; he could always let the plane recharge and walk it in later.

Except maybe he couldn't, and he narrowed his eyes as the clouds on the horizon resolved themselves into a thick pillow of smoke, which if he wasn't very much mistaken was billowing up from right in front of his workshop. _Forget power efficiency_, _we're getting over there now_. "Hey guys, brace yourselves. I'm kicking in the boosters, and we're going for a bit of a walk afterwards. Um, Bunnie, I'm probably going to slam into the seat when I do this, so you might want to get your arm out of the way."

Her only response was to stiffen the mechanical limb. If he wasn't so afraid that the torque was going to wreck it he'd have been more grateful. Then the sudden acceleration pulled his lips apart, pulled his skin taut across his chest while it flapped around loosely behind him, and Bunnie's arm slipped as she shot back into her seat. But between it and his tails he kept his back off of the chair, and then the plane settled back down at its new high speed and he could relax again. Well, for a certain definition of "relax."

The forests fell away behind him as the fighter hurtled toward the coast, but the energy gauge was burning a solid red now. "Okay, we're stopping here. Let's make this as soft a landing as we can, all right?" Not that anyone else really had a say in it, of course. He angled his nose up just slightly, killing the boosters and throttling back until the plane couldn't keep itself aloft. But the wings, especially the little X design along the nose, were giving him that little bit of extra distance he needed. Their descent curved gently down, picking up speed as they came closer and closer to a total nosedive, and as soon as Tails was sure they weren't getting any more distance – and that Geoffrey's stomach was about to rebel, judging by the noises on the intercom – he hit the Cyclone switch.

The transformation nearly cost them the last of their energy, and their nose was still pointing straight down at the ground – for about a second and a half. Then the walker's bizarre shape and radically different center of gravity flipped them end over end, and the fox put a little bit of power back into the jets to keep them falling feet-first. Bunnie's arm had kept him from hitting the seat even as the world spun around him, but that didn't help much when his tails were glued to his back. Part of that stickiness was the tube of antibiotic cream they'd emptied across him, but he knew perfectly well what most of it was. He was in no hurry to pull his tails off, either; he didn't need them right away and just like the felt it was going to sting like crazy when that much fur came ripping out.

Little ticks on the jets kept them stable as they dropped, and finally Tails threw what was left of his power into checking their fall. The Cyclone touched down softly, dust and rock spraying up around it as costal plants bowed around them, and the second it stopped moving a burst of machine gun fire spanged off of the cockpit inches from Tails's muzzle. _Oh, someone's going to regret this_. His back spasmed as he let himself out of the seat ad he fell back against Bunnie's arm, wheezing. _Probably me_.

The smoke wasn't as bad now that he was seeing it from ground level, but he could see close enough to the workshop to tell something had been burning merrily away in the hangar. The little fox closed his eyes. _No_. _Please don't let them have shot them_! It didn't matter which "thems" he meant. "Sonic, I need you to check ahead while we get out, okay? Tell me what's going on in there!" His voice was frantic and he didn't care. They needed answers, and if he was plunging into a burning building while severely injured, well, he'd done it a few times before. If his rule against guns had gotten his friends hurt or worse when Spagonia attacked…no, no, he wouldn't accept that. Something had just gone wrong with the repairs, and the Spagonian planes had given it up as a bad deal and flown home overnight. Yeah, that worked.

_I know I'm lying to myself, and right now I'm just going to go along with it_. _If I think about what really happened here_, _I'm not going to be thinking straight enough to put it all back together_. He sighed, popped the canopy, and with Bunnie's help clambered out of the walker. It was even more painful than he'd expected to get his tails out of his back – and they were damp and matted enough now he probably wouldn't be doing any flying – but he already knew that he was in for a much deeper kind of pain when he got inside.

* * *

They hadn't even made it to the hangar when things started going wrong. The moans from the scrub were the first clue; the smell should have been but Tails's nose had clearly assumed any blood in the area was his own. _Definitely a gun battle then_. _Why don't people ever listen to the fox_? But if Spagonia had attacked then he supposed he couldn't blame the Downunda troops for retaliating in kind. After all, they weren't Sonic, and they wouldn't have been able to deal with the attack any other way – and considering how energetically they'd been chased across the continent the Spagonians weren't going to stand down just because someone asked them nicely.

"Bunnie, Geoffrey! We've got to get these people inside, fast." Inside might not actually be any better – _something's keeping Sonic, after all_ – but from the way his back was stinging out in the open air here it at least had to be more comfortable. The rabbit hopped to it, and Sally came over close to Tails, but Geoffrey didn't seem to be too interested. "What's keeping you?"

"Ignore him" Sally muttered. "If your back's up to it we'll lift this one together, all right, little guy?" Tails certainly hoped he could oblige, but as he tried to duck down and get a handle on the big cat at their feet he felt his organs squeezing against one another inside him like giant ballons. He went over backwards, barely catching himself on his tails before his back hit the dirt, and his breath was hot and forced as the nausea faded back away. "Oh, sweetie," she started, but Tails surprised them both by rocking back to his feet and trying again. _Now that I know what to expect I can be ready for it_. That didn't make the sensation any more pleasant, but at least he could move.

The woman was surprisingly heavy despite only wearing her green-on-white uniform rather than the body armor Downunda seemed to love, and even without his back problems Tails would have struggled to keep her level while lifting her. She was definitely still warm, still breathing, though, so as long as he didn't drop her she'd be all right. Geoffrey was picking over the bodies now, but the fox was relieved to see he was just checking for pulses – well, that and throwing their guns away. Good for him.

It was slow going over the rough ground, with Sally inching forward and Tails needing to stop almost constantly when his back twinged. The only reason the fringes of the smoke weren't making his eyes water was that the pain had beaten it to the punch. But still, they made their way inexorably to the hangar door. And there, almost twenty minutes after Sonic had run ahead, Tails finally understood why his big brother hadn't come back yet.

"Stars," Sally breathed. Tails didn't really have anything to add to that. After all, what could you say when your favorite spaceship was a pile of burning scrap in front of you? The smoke was at least partially steam now; the fire suppression system was down to a trickle but it had clearly damped down the worst of the flames. In fact, it had probably been doing that all night.

At least neither of them dropped the woman, which was a small mercy. Bunnie came clattering back out on her own and flagged the two of them down. "It's as bad as it looks," she said without preamble. "I'm going back out to bring in the others, but you look like you need to pick out a spot for yourself first, sugar-fox. And Sally, they need you in the security room in there; that's where the professors are."

"They can wait," Sally replied bluntly. "I've got more important things to do than listen to them argue again." That cheered Tails up immensely. He wasn't going to be doing this alone after all, then; even though he deserved to, these people needed a quick, efficient rescue and not his self-flagellation. "Where do we take her?"

"All the docs who didn't get hit themselves are over in the main room. I'm sure Tails here can show you where." He nodded eagerly, only to regret it as his insides sloshed around again. "Don't worry, little Amy and Cream are both fine." Tails didn't know why that was so relaxing when everyone _else_ was still in danger, but it was. _At least I didn't lose my friends this time_.

"I'm going to get her in with you, but I think I need to find some other way to help out after that." Tails hung his head, but it was true. With all of his injuries he would just get in the way, slow down other people who could do much better work much faster.

A loud clatter from over in the shipwreck caught the fox's attention, and a familiar set of blue spines popped out of a pile of rubble. "If I thought it would do any good I'd tell you to go lie down. Then again, that might not be good for you right now either. What do you say we get these fires out and lose the smoke?"

"Sure thing, Sonic," Tails called back tiredly. "Just let me get this person –" The weight vanished from his hands as Bunnie braced the cat effortlessly on her robot arm, using the natural one to keep her cargo steady. "Thanks," he said instead, and walked cautiously off to help his brother.

The first thing he noticed was the blast damage around what used to be the Typhoon's stern. "What did they do, throw every missile they've ever built at us?"

"Just about." Tails looked around for the new voice, twisting his back painfully. _Forget it, if it's just going to give me trouble no matter what I do I'll just ignore it_. Easier said than done, of course, but distractions like the singed raccoon who'd just dug her way out of the wreck seemed to help take his mind off his own problems. "Just as soon as you were gone, basically."

"Miss Firth, right? How're you doing in there?"

She wiped her brow, although as far as Tails could tell that just spread more grease and soot into it. "Hot work, but most of us were out of the ship when they started. I think we've almost got everyone accounted for, just picking up the pieces and making sure now."

"I guess I'll get the full story later," the fox said dejectedly. _They were waiting for Sonic and me to be out of the way_ _so they wouldn't have to worry about us_. _And I was so _happy_ they weren't shooting to kill on my end_! _I should have thought about what else that might have meant_. "Right now, um, do you know what's still burning?"

She nodded, sliding another sheet of metal aside. He only now saw just how ragged her outfit was, and resolved that he wasn't taking any time off until he'd put in at least as much effort. It was his fault she'd had to, after all. "A lot of the capacitors burst, and your generator fuel's on fire too." Great, oil and electrical fires only then. Why couldn't things be easy for a change?

"What've we got to fight that with?" The more he knew going in the better he could get on top of the problems. The raccoon went into a coughing jag before she could answer. _Smoke's got to be awful down there_. _I should probably get on top of that first_. "Sonic, I don't know why the seaside door's still shut but I'm going to pop it open. I want you to just run back and forth in front of it, get this smoke moving. I'll do the same with my tails on the other end, okay?"

The hedgehog looked at him for a minute. "You're not digging?" His tone suggested he was more worried that Tails trying to move too fast would be dangerous rather than annoyed that his little brother was taking the easy way out, but the fox felt defensive anyway.

"That's up next. But you can hear her; we can't work with all this smoke down here and the steam's only a little better."

He nodded. "Hey, I wasn't arguing, Tails. Better get moving, then."

Tails walked as fast as he dared across the hot floor as Sonic zoomed away from him. He heard the harsh rattle of the poor unmaintained door across the hangar as his brother hit its button, and then he was at his own destination. _Right_. _Just like in that building in Soleanna_. Well, not _just_ like it; he'd been trying to suck air in back then and now he wanted to drive it all out. Still, that just meant that he didn't have to reverse his spin when he got up to the top of the door, and considering it would already hurt like mad getting that far he was just fine with that.

He hopped up, blood-soaked tails still miraculously giving him the lift he needed. His stomach – and several other things – cramped, every part of his torso stung nastily, but he kept himself aloft until he could grab hold of the ragged edge of the old aluminum garage door. From there it was just a matter of keeping his body in the air while his tails did the work. The touch of base and acid in the ash against his back was a new experience in pain but he clung on desperately. In fact, his body hurt so much he didn't even notice as he sliced his gloves open once again on the sharp metal.

The smoke eddied around his muzzle, but this time the airstream he was shaping carried almost all of it away from him, angling it down and out through the door. He didn't know how long he clung there, nerves deadened to the pain, but eventually even he could tell the heat behind him was dying down. He coughed the last of the smoke out of his lungs and let himself drop, catching himself on his tails and gasping as he pulled out a few stitches he hadn't realized had survived so long. The tired little fox turned around to find Sonic, to get back to work, but the view caught his eyes first.

The ocean that had drawn him to this spot years ago was there again, sparkling a rich blue with the late morning sun even as tendrils of smoke and cloud swept above it. He could see clearly despite his bloodshot eyes; the fires were out and the choking clouds gone, and his heart soared into the clearing sky. There was still hope after all. _Time to get to work_.

* * *

Tails lost track of time as he and the others scrabbled through the wreckage and the fields for survivors. Maybe it was the pain, or the drugs, or the hunger, or maybe he was just tired, but eventually the fox found he couldn't make himself turn around and keep going any longer.

There were ways around that, though, but Cream and Amy weren't helping. "No, Tails," the little rabbit said as forcefully as she could around eyes even blearier than Tails's. "You've talked Amy into giving you two rounds of painkillers and almost all the tea we've been able to brew, and it's only been half a day. We can't give you any more."

"Yeah," the pink hedgehog added with a stunningly crisp nod. "You're supposed to feel pain for a reason, Tails. Listen to it for a change and go lie down before you kill yourself." He supposed she had a point, but still! If he hadn't run away, or if he'd just thought to leave Sonic behind, this would never have happened. Besides, everyone had trusted him to give them shelter here in his workshop, and that clearly hadn't worked either. The makeshift hospital had spilled out into every room and tunnel in the facility except the hangar itself. Well, that and one other place.

"Do you guys at least know how the professors are doing?"

The girls looked at one another. "Not a thing," Amy said eventually. "Sorry, Tails, but I don't think they're going to come to any kind of an agreement at this rate."

"Someone's got to go talk sense into them," the fox said with a forceful stomp that sent him sloshing again. As the queasiness passed he realized he knew exactly what to say. Well, exactly what to say in his own mind, at least – Chaos only knew if they'd even listen.

"If you think you're up to it, Tails, go right ahead. I'll head in with you." He looked up slowly, remembering what sudden movements tended to get him.

"Princess Sally, when did you – ooh." Amy groaned when she saw how badly stained and torn up the princess had gotten herself. She reminded Tails of the way Amy had looked after that air raid in Soleanna, actually. "Are you sure _you_'_re_ up for it? I can at least clean you off first –"

"Save it," Sally said curtly. Then she sighed. "Sorry, Miss Rose. I know you're trying to help and I appreciate it, but I figure if the two of us go in there like this it'll rub what's actually _happening_ in their faces. That admiral's the only one who acts like she has a clue."

Tails hadn't thought of it like that, but he supposed that the princess had a point. _Of course she does_. _She's been doing this way longer than I have_. _Or want to_. "In that case, are you ready to go?"

She snorted. "I never am. Let's get this done."

Tails threaded his way through the caverns that spiderwebbed out from his workshop by instinct more than any conscious thought. He'd barely started walking when he stumbled heavily over a rough patch of earth, and Sally's thick brush of a tail wrapped under his arms to steady him. The motion not only took an enormous weight off of the fox's feet but managed not to touch his raw back either, and he looked over at her uncomprehendingly. She just gave him a soft smile and let him guide her, and together they made their way to the security room the diplomats had commandeered.

The fox could hear raised voices from outside the door, and he quite emphatically did not care what they were saying. "Great," he moaned.

"You expected anything different?" Sally asked. "Never mind." She unwrapped him, and although he missed the comfortable touch he knew they'd have just embarrassed each other to walk in like that. Sally threw the door open as dramatically as she could manage – Tails could think of no better way she could have announced her opinion of the other representatives – and he followed in on her heels.

"My God, Princess, Miles!" Professor Pickle scrambled to his feet, the other three trailing a few stunned seconds behind him. "What's happened to you?"

"Probably cleaning up after your soldiers, Pickle," Firth said with a laugh. If Tails had any energy left he'd probably have exhausted it slapping the air marshal.

Fortunately, Admiral Aki had a similar idea, minus the physical violence. "Enough, Justin. I didn't see you rushing to help after the rockets came in."

"Coming from you, Admiral? I've at least used my weapons before, so believe me when I say I know exactly what kind of damage they could have done. You don't have that kind of qualification, dearie."

The kangaroo's eyes narrowed. "You seem to be implying something, Justin, and if it's what I think it is then you should count yourself lucky that dueling isn't legal anymore."

Tails drew himself up as much as he still could. "Quiet, all of you!" To his immense surprise – and satisfaction – they obeyed, and Sally looked him over proudly. "Better. Look, if you want an idea of why you need to start agreeing on things, you can just take a walk around the workshop. That'll answer all of your questions in a hurry. But you know what? I think I'll save you the trouble." He took a deep breath and thundered on. "I've listened to all of you twice now, and let me tell you what I think. I think that you two," he waved at the professors, "are two stubborn old men who don't understand this whole thing as anything but more equations to solve, and _you_," it was the soldiers' turn now, "are so busy posturing you haven't come up with anything worthwhile to actually _ask_ for!"

Lord Professor Regis stepped up to bat as soon as Tails stopped to catch his breath. "But Miles, how can you expect us to cede anything to them? What have they done to deserve it?"

Tails slammed a fist into the door and winced as he jostled his injuries. "This isn't about what they've 'deserved,' this is about what we all _need_. Just look outside! There's nothing left of Acorn, and in all the places I've been since the shooting started there's been something that's needed rebuilding or rescuing. So focus on that!"

"What exactly is he saying?" the air marshal asked his companion. For some reason, _that_ was the final straw for Tails. The tired fox scattered any remaining decorum to the winds.

"Hey, don't ask her, she's probably just as clueless as you are! Ask me." That was clearly unfair, Admiral Aki was probably the only other person in there who'd actually tried to get some sort of deal made, and she flinched at the insult. He regretted it immediately, but he could apologize later. "You keep saying you want to be modern, and I bet the other countries around you are even worse off than you are. Shamar was a total wasteland – they don't even have a single monorail to their name. So why are you throwing your weight around instead of just asking for help?" His frustration dimmed somewhat as curiosity flared up in its place. He hadn't been able to come up with a satisfactory answer to that question yet.

"Because these…gentlemen won't ever say 'yes' when we ask!" Firth snarled. He whirled on Sally. "And the same goes for you, Princess. You and your father –"

"Leave my father out of this," she replied with a scowl that ought to have incinerated the air marshal on the spot. "Besides, do you have any idea how hard it is to make the Zones agree with one another?"

"A lot easier now, I expect," Firth replied, and Sally charged at him with murder in her eyes. Tails couldn't have stopped her if he tried, so instead he turned to the admiral. She was looking on with a mixture of amusement, curiosity, and fear, clearly mulling over whether to intervene or go find some popcorn.

"About what I just said, um, I'm sorry. The whole 'you don't understand' thing – I know you're probably the only one here who actually does, so, um…."

"No need, Captain. I know you meant that more for him than for me anyway; I was too busy trying not to laugh to get offended. Oh, he's a good enough officer," she said before he could ask anything, "but I don't get why they sent the two of us as representatives when they had the whole Foreign Office to choose from. Him especially."

Tails just shrugged. Sally had managed to reign herself in before she finished off the cowering Marshal Firth, and the squirrel stalked back to her place at the door. "Let the boy speak," she warned him, and the soldier nodded mutely.

"You really didn't have to do that, Princess Sally," Tails said, but she shook her head. _It probably made things even worse, but I guess she needed to do it_. _Same as Sonic every time someone says he owns me_. He still couldn't believe how many newspapers had said that about them, both in the Zones and over on Earth, and now that he thought about it he realized just how many sore spots the air marshal must have hit back-to-back with his comments.

The fox shook himself. "Anyway. I guess what I'm trying to say is think less about who 'scored' the most in this whole disaster and just start giving everyone the help they need. You especially, Lord Professor – if everyone had just one copy of Zero Point they'd probably never need to go fight you for anything else, right?"

The old human gaped at him. "You expect me to just _give away_ my university's greatest advantage over the world?"

Tails just sighed. "How should I know what to expect? I'm not a diplomat either. You people figure this out; just keep what I said in mind. We're not going through another repeat of last night, okay?" And with that he spun on his heel and stalked out as best as his damaged body would allow, privately enjoying the horrified gasps that echoed as they finally saw his back. _Got to be good for something, right_?

Someone followed him out into the hall, and as a thick plush tail wrapped around him again he knew who it was. "Tails, sweetie, let me tell you a few things about politics. It's kind of a zero-sum game. You can develop things on your own, but when you've got two different states they can only take from each other. You're not going to get the professors to give something as big as Zero Point Energy away, especially not to Downunda."

"Why?" Tails felt genuinely hurt. He'd done his best to sound fair, to sound intelligent. Had all of that just been useless? Sally leaned over him and tousled his bangs, and he stretched into the touch.

"Because they have to think of themselves first. What if Downunda takes all that free energy and decides to take over altogether? What if they give it to Shamar and they want revenge for all the times Acorn tried to colonize them? It's not as straightforward as you want."

Tails pouted. "Well, it should be." He didn't know how to fix it – didn't even know if it _could_ be fixed – but he wasn't about to blindly go along with Sally's claim either. "I still think they'd just grow and develop, that they wouldn't need any more wars if they just had nice enough lives. I mean, that's what the two from Downunda keep saying, isn't it?"

Sally sighed. "I used to think that too, Tails. Then Daddy taught me how the world really worked. It took me a long time to accept it, just like you, but it made too much sense in the end. Sorry, sweetie."

Tails didn't answer her, just tucked himself deeper into her tail fur and kept walking. She guided him out this time, and by the time she laid him down on his side in a quiet corner of the workshop the little fox was already asleep.

* * *

Author's Note: And that more or less wraps up the actual plot for Reconstruction, though there's still a chapter left to go (hopefully I won't keep anyone waiting too long). Figures that my next-to-last chapter would be the longest thing I've ever written; seriously, this thing is nearly twenty-three pages and that's before I started editing it. Hopefully it doesn't put anyone to sleep - considering the imagery, I somehow doubt that.


	25. Foundations for Tomorrow

Tails didn't remember being young enough for fuzz. His earliest memories already included a full coat of fur, and he was having a hard time adapting to the bristly little sprouts coming out of his back. All the same, it was much better than the open wounds had been, or even the scar cords that he'd spent the last few weeks trying hard not to pick back open. No one had managed to get a picture of his injuries and he hadn't seen them in a mirror either, two facts for which the fox was eternally grateful. He'd run some models to figure out how far he could walk, of course, and he was fairly certain there were still a few loose bone flakes sliding around somewhere. Even if it was something else, his spine still twinged with pain on occasion, and he'd much rather not have a solid mental image of _why_.

He was down to just one plane now, since Sonic's old Tornado had rusted to uselessness during his absence – he'd been too numb for it to register properly, although he regretted not mourning it properly now – and the Blue Typhoon was, well, gone. That had irritated Knuckles immensely, since that left them with no way to ship all of the diplomats and soldiers home. Not until the actual ships arrived, of course, but even then the fox more than half-expected them to start shelling one another. Oh, Regis and Aki had assured one another that the big cruise liners were only hospital ships, but then again they'd been arguing with each other – and everyone else – for sixteen hours a day without making the slightest bit of progress, so he took anything they said by now with a grain of salt. All they had left the fox with was a promise of a cease-fire while they worked out the particulars, but by now he wasn't remotely confident that they'd come to any kind of resolution in the end.

And that was at least part of the reason why he found himself back in the recharged X-Tornado, with a hyperactive bee and a crocodile who barely fit in the cabin arguing in the backseat, an irritated ninja dangling from the wing, and a wonderfully tolerant young rabbit just behind him. "So Vector, I said I had a business deal in mind, right?"

"Charmy, stop doing that! Oh, um, yes you did, Captain. But I'm not sure what you'd need us for."

Tails rolled his eyes. Same old Chaotix. "I'm not asking you to solve a case or anything. But since I'm dropping you all off in Soleanna I'd appreciate it if you keep in touch from time to time. If there's somewhere that needs help –"

"We rush to their aid, like true detective heroes?" Vector finished for him, and the fox chuckled.

"Sure, no one's stopping you. But if there's a big need – the kind of thing, you know, I could build a machine to figure out or something – just let me know. I figure that if the professors and the commanders can't build the peace I might as well give it a shot myself."

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" Charmy's voice still gave Tails a headache, but he appreciated the little bee's support. "Let me know if I can help, okay?"

"That's kind of what he's doing, Charmy." Tails swore he heard Espio slam his head against the wing. "I guess it's not really a job at all then, is it?"

Tails shook his head vigorously, reveling in his freedom of movement now that his cobbled-together brace was gone. "I'm still paying you for it, don't worry! Knuckles agreed to let me work off of a stretch of Angel Island, so you can just leave any messages up with him. I know he likes you guys more than he lets on."

"Certainly." Espio's voice was amusingly tinny in the wind. For some reason Sonic never seemed to have that problem. "Very well, Tails, I think we have a deal. Do we, Vector?"

"Of course, of course. Anything for a friend, Captain!" And that was that.

Cream had been silent throughout the entire exchange. When Vector quieted down she reached up around the fox and switched off the intercom. "Does that mean I won't be seeing you for a while, Tails?"

The fox caught her arm with a tail and stroked it a little before letting go. "Of course not! Heck, if your mom lets you I'd be happy to bring you along. You and Cheese, I mean; you haven't seen the little guy in way too long."

"That's true," she said with feeling. "But I think I need a rest. This month's been exciting but I want to get back to Mom's oven and a nice soft bed, honestly. I thought you'd want to slow down too, that's all."

Tails shook his head. "I can't. I guess it's not all over. Not for me, at least, there's too much I found out about that won't get out of my head." _Poverty and politics and power plays_. _I'm not sure I _can_ just go back to being Sonic's sidekick and home base after all that_. He flipped the intercom back open surreptitiously. "Plus, hey, I've worked out a lot of my other problems and I kind of want to see the world while I've got all this energy."

"A worthy cause," Vector boomed, causing Cream to jump and then pout at Tails. The fox looked over his shoulder to grin back at her and dipped the wings playfully.

Amy and Cream had been there for him – for everyone, and that what made it work – all through the repair work after the siege, and the little rabbit was probably the single biggest reason he was still smiling now. He'd messed up, of course, but that always happened. What mattered this time was that he and his friends had been ready to pick up the pieces, and Cream's reward for doing that was long past due.

Now hopefully Vanilla would enjoy their story, rather than skinning them alive for all the risks they'd taken. Maybe she'd just settle for skinning Vector if he proposed to her at the right time. The fox's grin widened at the thought, and he let Cream play with the new fur on the tips of his tails as he turned his eyes back to the horizon.

* * *

"So how's she settling in, Tails?" Amy asked almost the instant the fox clambered down from his jet. She and Knuckles were next up for a flight elsewhere, and after that Tails was closing up the workshop for a while. There was no one else around to use it, and he had better things to do than sulk over the ruins of his old machines.

"Oh, Cream? Just great. I think I've still got flour in my whiskers after she and Cheese started baking." The chao had thought it would be funny to upend an entire two-pound sack of the stuff over the fox's head, and if it hadn't wound up in his nose and especially his _ears_ he probably would have enjoyed it as much as they had. "She's kind of lost her touch, though – but Vanilla's good as ever."

"I guess there are compromises everywhere. She saved your life how many times last month, Tails? I guess it's only fair that she kills you with a pie."

The fox chuckled. "She wasn't that bad, Knuckles. It's just – savory pot pies should not be able to rot my teeth!"

"Oh, Cream's just being sweet." Tails just looked levelly at Amy, who kept a straight face for all of two seconds before collapsing into a giggling fit. _Man, I thought _Sonic's_ puns were bad_.

Knuckles shared the sentiment. "I'm not sure stand-up comedy's a good career path for you just yet, Amy." As she glared, Tails made a mental note to – quietly, very quietly – check the X-Tornado for concealed hammers before takeoff. "So, shall we get moving?"

"What, and leave your favorite hedgehog buddy behind?"

Tails wheeled and pounced on the newcomer, a kit again for just an instant. "Hey, Sonic!" They went over in a tangled heap, Tails quickly rolling off of Sonic's stomach as his brother woofed in surprise.

Then he started laughing, and the onlookers joined in. "Looks like you've got your touch back, big guy." _That was_…_very satisfying_. _I haven't had the chance to do that since we left, have I_?

"So what's up? You were seeing Sally and the others off, weren't you? I thought you'd be gone for another day at least."

Sonic tossed his quills as they both stood up. "You only thought that because you assumed I'd move at their speed both ways. Come on, the hike did them all good." It probably had; Sally in particular had been furious enough to singe the fur off of passers-by when the other diplomats finally left.

"So, did we ever figure out who the skunk was really working for?" Knuckles asked. Tails frowned. _Oh, right, he wasn't with us that night_ _and we've all been too busy for it to come up since then_.

"You want to answer that one, Sonic? I mean, I probably could but I want to hear about your trip."

The hedgehog waved his arms for dramatic impact, which as always fell flat. "As it happens I _did_ learn a few juicy bits out along the coast. He and Sally kept talking like he was on her side all along. I mean, it seriously sounded like everything that happened to us was part of some crazy master plan. Bigger than anything Egghead ever tried, that's for sure." He paused. "Bunnie wasn't buying it, though."

Tails wasn't sure he was either. Maybe it was just because of the skunk's jerkish behavior, but he didn't feel like giving him the benefit of quite that much doubt. "Yeah, I think Eggman kind of called it. Geoffrey wanted to help Sally win, sure, but he spun it out so that no matter what happened he'd be the last man standing. Downunda's top agent, Spagonia's, Acorn's – he was even working for Eggman right up until they betrayed each other at the exact same time." The fox laughed. It was all just so absurd, and he frankly hoped he'd never end up thinking like that. "He was set to win no matter who came out on top."

"Yeah, but you've got to think," Sonic told him.

Knuckles grunted a laugh of his own. "That's a first for you."

"Very funny, Knucky." He blurred under the echidna's playful punch, which drove a six-inch hole into the wall behind him. "Seriously, bro. All that's true, but if he wanted to help Sal out even if everything else went wrong? He'd be perfectly set up to do just that." Tails scrunched up his face as he worked through that. _Yeah, that's true_. But still, he didn't feel like being too charitable to Geoffrey just now. _Maybe after a couple more rounds of being archnemesis he'll be just as much a friend as Eggman_.

"Enough about _him_," Amy complained. "What I want to know, Sonic, is what _you're_ up to."

The hedgehog dodged the question physically as well as verbally. "Oh, um, I didn't really have any plans. Just going back to travelling, I guess. What about you guys?"

"Some of us actually have jobs to get back to, hedgehog," Knuckles observed. "Angel Island, where else?"

Tails nodded. "I guess I've got a job now too, although I'm just starting up."

"Oh? First you've said anything to me." Sonic's tone was suddenly guarded, and all their talk of fear and loss on Angel Island came flooding back to Tails.

"No, no, I'm not leaving you or anything! But…you remember that greenhouse I built for that town in Shamar? That was honestly the best I felt all month, maybe even longer. And I figure since the people at the top can't figure out how to end the war, I might as well just hop around and help people out here and there. I'm not going to gouge – heck, I kind of want to do it all for free, no reason for me to be greedy – but I might get some spending money from the better-off places too."

Sonic clapped him on the back, tickling Tails's back with the bristly new fur. "Good for you, buddy. And hey, mind if I tag along? I figure I was going to go sightseeing anyway, and it's easier to get around when you're flying me." Tails laughed. He knew the real reason Sonic wanted to come along, and…well, no, come to think of it vacation was probably a pretty good one too.

Amy leaned in close to Sonic, who edged slowly away. "I had been going to settle down with Cream and Vanilla somewhere, or maybe start my own shop like I tried back on Earth, but if you two are staying together I think I have a better idea."

"Tails, save me!" Sonic squawked as he ducked behind his little brother. Tails just kept laughing.

"No reason you two can't both come along. I mean, I don't think I'll be going to the most romantic places or anything –" He dodged Sonic's desperate lunge as Amy leaned in even closer to both of them.

"Trust me, Tails," she whispered, "I'll find the romance just about anywhere."

"I'm, um, sure you will." _Addendum: check for hammers before and after takeoff_. Every_ takeoff._

Sonic ran a quick lap of the room, then his little moment of terror passed. "Well, I don't know about you guys but I've got something I need to take care of before we all go flying again." He waited just until everyone looked curious. "I'm feeling a little hungry."

"When aren't you?" the other three chorused in unison.

The hedgehog pointedly ignored them. "I remember there was a fairly nice chili dog place a few miles from here. Want to go see if it's still standing?"

* * *

Author's Note: And there you have it! My first fic completed, at three times the page count of my previous record. I took inspiration and distraction in equal measure from every author on my Favorites list, in particular DC111, Taranea, and the legendary JudasFm. But I need to offer special thanks to Exploder for not just giving me something interesting to read but also for following along from the beginning with reviews, commentary, and a reason for me to keep writing. I've revised entire chapters on his advice, and I'd like to think this story wouldn't be anywhere near what it turned out to be without his feedback and friendship. In particular, the second half of Chapter 24 was almost spur-of-the-moment in reaction to some of his comments on the chapters right before it. So again, thank you very much, and to everyone else - scurry over and read all the names I've mentioned. Shoo, shoo!

If I end up making any noteworthy edits in the future, I'll delete and re-upload this chapter with a tally of significant (read: non-proofreading) edits below. I've already got ideas for a sequel, plus there's a related story I started and need to get back to (thanks to Pyre-Vulpimorph for my inspiration on that one). So that means I'll be seeing you all around!

* * *

Major Edits Since 9/28/13:

* * *

9/28/13:

Word choice edits and minor tweaks to Chapter 25

Chapter titles established

9/29/13:

Summary issue corrected (thanks to the site staff)

9/30/13:

Modifications to some chapter titles

Story category changed from "Adventure/SF" to "Friendship/SF"

Substantially edited parts of Chapter 4 to put more weight on Tails's key emotional issues

10/04/13:

Added additional detail about Tails's injury in Chapter 25


End file.
